A 1920s parking garage turned apartment building in Lakeview has sold for $31 million, the latest sign of just how hot Chicago's adaptive-reuse apartment market has become. The Medallion, at 3121 N. Broadway, now holds 72 units, a rooftop deck and a ground-floor Intelligentsia Coffee where cars once rolled in for a tune-up.
From Parking Ramps to Rooftop Deck
The sale was first reported by Crain's Chicago Business, which described the property as a 1920s parking garage converted into apartments. The building's developer, JSM Venture, has described the project as adding a two-story addition and roof deck atop a five-story parking garage to create the 72-unit building, according to Urbanize Chicago. A separate Crain's report, however, described the structure as having been a six-story parking garage before conversion — accounts that differ on the building's original height.
Whatever its exact original footprint, the building's second life is now leasing. Monthly rents start at $1,875 for studios and $2,195 for one-bedroom floor plans, according to a report from REBusinessOnline. The same report notes that select units are available in accordance with the city's Affordable Requirements Ordinance, and that the property also houses Intelligentsia Coffee on site.
Part of a Bigger Lakeview Building Boom
The Medallion's sale lands amid a broader surge in Chicago multifamily deal-making. Transaction counts in the first half of 2026 reached their highest point in more than a decade, per Northmarq, with cap rates averaging 6.0% — up 25 basis points from a year earlier. Northmarq's analysis also found that Lakeview and Rogers Park posted the greatest year-over-year vacancy improvements among the areas it tracked.
Lakeview in particular has become something of an adaptive-reuse hotspot. A report cited by Chicago Agent Magazine counted 894 neighborhood adaptive-reuse units in the development pipeline citywide, including 362 in Lakeview alone, with most of those projects slated to deliver in 2027. The same report found Chicago's overall multifamily vacancy rate at 5.0% — well below the national average of 8.5% — with every submarket posting rent growth above the U.S. average in 2025.
The Medallion deal also follows another notable Lakeview apartment sale this year: the Wirtz family's real estate business sold a vintage apartment tower in the neighborhood for $34 million in early August, according to Crain's. Between that sale and the Medallion's $31 million price tag, Lakeview's older housing stock — whether historic towers or converted parking structures — is drawing serious investor interest as the neighborhood's rental market tightens.
