Chicago — The 19th and early 20th century landmarks will be a mixed-use complex with 341 beds. The property will serve the market of approximately 70,000 students from 11 nearby institutions.
The Steger Building was constructed in 1910.Chicago — Campus Acquisitions has begun a renovation project in the Loop area of downtown Chicago that will redevelop three historic buildings into a mixed-use student housing and retail complex.
Three buildings make up the redevelopment site: The Gibbons building, which was built in 1912 by renowned architects Marshall & Fox, the Steger building, constructed in 1910 by Marshall & Fox, and the Pickwick Stable, which dates to the mid-to-late 1800s, surviving the Chicago Fire of 1871. In April, the city will vote on whether to offer landmark status to the Steger Building.
CA will gut and rehabilitate the three historic structures into student apartments for the area’s market that includes more than 70,000 students from 11 institutions within a one-mile radius. Gibbons Steger will include 160 units and 341 beds, with amenities including a rooftop lounge and event space, fitness center, private and collaborative study and technology rooms, music and art studios and on-site management by CA’s staff.
This is the sixth development project for Campus Acquisitions since it sold 15 properties to American Campus Communities last year for $627 million.
Other projects under development include Rise at Northgate at Texas A&M University that will deliver fall 2013; phase I of Level at Arizona near the University of Arizona, fall 2013; Icon Gardens at University of California Santa Barbara, fall 2013; Phase II at Park Avenue Arizona at the University of Arizona, fall 2014; and 720 Northwestern at Purdue University, fall 2014. The Gibbons Steger project will deliver in fall 2014.
The famous Steger Pianos operated the administrative and display departments of the piano business out of the Steger Building, while producing pianos that shipped as far away as the Vatican and Vienna.
Pickwick Stables, the smallest structure, measuring, 19 feet wide by 19 feet deep, was constructed for horses by the family of Henry Horner, the 28th governor of Illinois, in the 1800s. This small building is expected to be repurposed as a coffee shop.
— Lynn Peisner