Bryn Mawr Historic District Clears Landmarks Commission, Setting Up City Council Vote

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks voted unanimously Thursday to give final landmark recommendation to Edgewater's Bryn Mawr Historic District. The vote sends the designation to the City Council for final approval.

The commission first granted the district a preliminary recommendation in April and held a public hearing on the proposal in June. Thursday's vote found the district meets four of the seven criteria the city uses to evaluate potential landmarks, above the two required for consideration. Commissioners cited the district's role as a critical part of the city's heritage, its architectural significance, contributions from important architects, and a distinctive theme running through the corridor.

The proposed district covers Bryn Mawr Avenue from Broadway to Sheridan Road, an area that was Edgewater's first business district. It includes the Edgewater Beach Apartments at 5555 N. Sheridan Road and the Belle Shore Apartment Hotel at 5550 N. Kenmore Ave., along with structures dating to the 1890s, according to Edgewater Historical Society President John Holden.

The stretch is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a federal designation. City landmark status would add local protections and open the corridor to additional funding tools, including the Adopt-A-Landmark program, which provides grants for building restoration.

The designation still needs sign-off from the City Council's Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards, followed by a vote of the full council, before it becomes official.

Along with the landmark recommendation, the commission denied a demolition permit for developer Harlem Irving Companies, which wanted to tear down a building at 1114 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. The company had proposed demolishing that building along with two neighboring properties at 1106 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. and 5614 N. Winthrop Ave. to clear space for a six-story, 95-unit apartment building with about 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

The commission had already approved demolition permits in May for the buildings at 1106 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. and 5614 N. Winthrop Ave., ruling those structures don't contribute to the historic character of the district because of extensive alteration over the years. But it preliminarily denied the permit for 1114 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. at that same meeting and made the denial final Thursday.

City planning officials argued the two-story brick building at 1114 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., built in 1909, displays elements of Classical Revival style and would harm the historic district if torn down. Harlem Irving Companies disputed that characterization, telling the commission the building lacks meaningful Classical Revival features beyond minor details.

Representatives for the developer said the company has already spent $6 million on the assembled site since purchasing it in 2020 and that reworking the project to exclude the 1114 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. parcel isn't economically feasible. They warned the apartment project could stall entirely without the demolition permit for that building.

Bryn Mawr Avenue took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic and then spent more than four years dealing with construction tied to the rebuilding of the Red Line's north branch, which shut down the Bryn Mawr station for an extended period and disrupted foot traffic to nearby shops and restaurants.

The corridor has picked up since the station reopened last summer following the renovation, with a wave of new businesses opening along the strip.

The City Council's zoning committee has not yet scheduled a hearing on the landmark designation. Harlem Irving Companies has not said whether it will appeal the commission's denial of the demolition permit or revise its apartment proposal to work around the building at 1114 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.