A one-story commercial building at the corner of North Damen Avenue and North Lister Avenue in Bucktown could soon give way to a four-story apartment building with 27 units, five of them set aside as affordable housing. The project calls for a brick-clad structure rising roughly 50 feet, with a shared rooftop deck, private balconies for most units, and a mix of layouts ranging from one to four bedrooms.
The development at 2343 North Damen Avenue is being led by Platinum Homes, with Chicago-based 360 Design Studio drawing up plans for the building, according to Chicago YIMBY. The outlet reports that Platinum Homes has worked on similarly sized projects throughout the Chicagoland area, and that the proposal recently submitted a zoning application to move the project forward. No cost or construction timeline has been disclosed, and the development will need to clear zoning approval before it can proceed.
What the Building Would Look Like
The proposed structure would stand four stories with an exterior clad in brick and inset window bays, per the same report. Below street level, a partially sunken basement would house the lower floor of street-front duplex units, which would be accessed from the ground floor. That ground level would also include a small lobby, a bike parking room, and a 16-vehicle parking garage tucked into the rear of the property.
The floors above the ground level would hold the remainder of the building's 27 residential units, split among one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom layouts. A majority of the residences would come with private balconies, and the report notes that all residents would have access to the shared rooftop deck.
Affordability and the Approval Process Ahead
Five of the 27 units would be designated as affordable, though the income limits or program governing those units have not been detailed. Before any of it can move forward, the project still needs its zoning application approved — a step that, per the report, remains outstanding with no timeline attached.
Platinum Homes' footprint extends beyond this single site. Records reviewed by BuildZoom show the company has worked on at least 23 projects over the past three years, including one sample permit for a proposed five-story residential building elsewhere with 36 dwelling units and an attached 18-car garage. That BuildZoom filing also lists the company's address as 1456 West Fullerton Avenue in Chicago.
How It Compares to Other Bucktown-Area Proposals
The Damen Avenue proposal joins a string of multifamily projects that have moved through Chicago's approval pipeline in and around Bucktown over the past year. A proposal at 1704 N. Milwaukee Avenue would replace a strip mall with a seven-story, 60-unit building featuring ground-floor retail and two levels of parking, according to Block Club Chicago. That building would include a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units plus two studios, with 12 apartments earmarked as affordable, and still needed sign-off from the City Council's zoning committee and a full council vote as of that report.
Block Club Chicago also reported that the City Council approved a four-story, 40-unit mixed-use building at 2652 W. Chicago Avenue in Ukrainian Village with 23 off-street parking spaces and six affordable units. In Bucktown itself, the council separately approved a four-story, 30-unit building at 1801-1809 N. Winnebago Avenue, which will include 23 parking spaces and six affordable units, the outlet reported. Those approvals suggest the Damen Avenue proposal would land in a neighborhood where four-story, affordability-inclusive apartment buildings have recently cleared City Council review, though this project's own path through that process has not yet played out.
