Redevelopment of historic Lakeview funeral home shows new signs of life

The adaptive reuse the former Herdegen-Brieske Funeral Home at the northeast corner of Lincoln, Southport, and Wellington avenues in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood looks like it might be moving forward.

First reported in 2015, the plan would incorporate the old 1926 structure and would preserve its brick and terra-cotta Gothic Revival style facade.

Since then, the site remained cocooned behind fencing with construction an on-and-off affair. A planned residential addition set back from the old funeral home has yet to materialize.

However, a recently uploaded marketing flyer first spotted by Southport Corridor News suggests that the long-discussed redevelopment is still very much alive. According the online listing, the corner building’s ground floor retail space could welcome tenants by January 2019.

The project also shows an updated look from OKW Architects. The apartment addition above the former Herdegen building as well as a new standalone residential structure across the alleyway at 3015 N. Southport appear to have swapped their metal and fiber cement exteriors from previous renderings in favor a more uniform, stone-like facades.

OKW Architects

OKW Architects

The cosmetic change isn’t exactly unexpected. The contemporary materials and protruding glass balconies of the earlier plan drew criticism from some neighbors, prompting Springbank Real Estate Group to “consider tweaks” to the design, reported DNAinfo in 2017.

With a revised look and a renewed push to find tenants, the North Side project looks to be back on track. There’s no word yet as to when the residential component hopes to break ground. Springbank could not be reached for immediate comment.

• The Wellington/Southport and Lincoln development looks to be back on track [Southport Corridor News]
• Shuttered Lakeview funeral to live again [Curbed Chicago]
• Previous Lakeview coverage [Curbed Chciago]