The Carling Hotel, a historic single room occupancy (SRO) development in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood, reopened on Monday afternoon as affordable apartments.
Constructed in 1927, the four-story building at 1512 N. LaSalle Street is coming off of a 16-month-long renovation project which saw its 155 rooms converted to 80 apartments with new private bathrooms and kitchenettes.
The Carling is the city’s first such building to be protected and rehabbed under Chicago’s 2014 SRO Preservation Ordinance. The measure was adopted to save the city’s 65 remaining licensed SRO’s—a number that declined from roughly 95 in 2008.
“We were concerned about SRO’s in expensive neighborhoods—like this one—and that the owners would sell to the highest bidder,” explained 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett Jr. “So we introduced the ordinance and worked closely with the mayor to come up with a new policy to preserve these buildings and keep them affordable.”
“The beauty of the Carling is not just the architecture, but what it represents for the people who will make their permanent homes here,” added Chicago Mayor Rahn Emanuel. “Today’s ribbon cutting is a milestone in an effort to help make sure that everyone who wants to be a part of the city can afford to do so.”
The project required some complex financial acrobatics including money from the SRO Preservation Initiative, the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund, historic tax credits, low income housing tax credits, the Chicago Housing Authority, and New Jersey-based Michaels Development Company.
As a result, every one of the Carling’s 80 units have some degree of affordability. The CHA provided project-based vouchers for 39 of the units that will allow for long-term affordability. For those units, renters will come from the CHA waiting list. The remainder of the units are offered at an affordable rate.
Overseen by Landon Bone Baker Architects, the $27.4 million rehab restored the 91-year-old building’s lobby and facade of brick and ornamental terra cotta. New resident amenities include a computer lab, reading room, and bike storage.
The newly resurrected Carling will also feature two commercial spaces including a new home for Garlic and Chili—a Thai restaurant that previously occupied the ground floor of the Marshall Hotel SRO at nearby 1232 N. LaSalle Street.
Designed by architect Edmund J. Meles, The Carling was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
Other SRO renovations efforts include a remodel of the Mark Twain Hotel at Clark and Division as well as the Art Deco Lawson House at Dearborn Street and Chicago Avenue. Meanwhile, the former Olympia Building SRO at 613 N. Wells Street recently reopened as the boutique Found Hotel.
- City Council approves plan to preserve Carling SRO hotel [City of Chicago]
- Michaels plans to acquire two SRO properties in Chicago [The Michaels Cos.]
- Carling Hotel: National Register of Historic Places [National Park Service]
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