After years of gathering dust beside one of Logan Square’s busiest intersections, the former Grace’s Furniture building is finally getting a serious shot at a comeback. Developers have secured a $3 million city grant to jump-start a long-discussed plan to turn the landmark into a mixed-use building centered on a four-story gym, complete with restored façade, revived vintage marquee and new street-level shops along Milwaukee Avenue.
The Department of Planning and Development signed off on a $3 million Community Development Grant for the project, part of a financing package that also includes an approximately $5 million loan and private equity to reach an estimated $11 million total budget, according to Block Club Chicago. City officials say the grant relies on Housing and Economic Development bond dollars to close the remaining financial gap and push the long-stalled redevelopment into shovel-ready territory.
Developers, Design And What’s Planned
Blue Star Properties and Marc Realty are steering the overhaul, with plans to anchor the building with a new Logan Square outpost of Chicago Athletic Club, plus a ground-floor restaurant and café, according to Chicago YIMBY. Project documents call for restoring the ornate terracotta exterior, saving historic windows where possible and layering in rooftop amenities while the five-story shell is converted into fitness, retail and service space.
Community Benefits And Preservation
The development team has also inked a community benefits agreement that promises discounted gym memberships for residents of the Lucy Gonzalez Parsons apartments across the street, plus local hiring at living-wage levels and support with both funds and water for volunteers who maintain the neighboring Paseo Prairie gardens, according to Block Club Chicago. “We’re over the moon to see the project move forward,” developer Andy Schneider said, adding that the team is committed to preserving and restoring the original Grace’s Furniture marquee as part of the façade work.
Site History And Scale
The five-story building at 2616–18 N. Milwaukee Ave sits next to the Logan Square Blue Line stop and steps from the Illinois Centennial Monument. Jones Lang LaSalle lists the structure at about 30,800 square feet on an 8,225-square-foot lot. The ground floor once housed Grace’s Furniture, which shuttered its showroom in 2010, and the prominent corner has drawn multiple redevelopment pitches in the years since, per JLL.
Funding Context And Next Steps
The Community Development Grant program is one of several tools funded through the city’s Housing and Economic Development bond that officials have leaned on to move neighborhood-scale projects forward, with recent rounds sending millions to dozens of local sites, according to WBEZ. The Logan Square proposal still needs landmark, zoning and community signoffs before permits are issued. Preservation Chicago notes that the plan remains under those review processes, and developers say that if approvals land on schedule, they hope to break ground this fall, with roughly a one-year construction timeline that could have the gym operating by late 2027.
