CHICAGO — The restoration and conversion of the Old Colony office building, located at 37 W. Van Buren St. in Chicago, into luxury student apartments is nearly complete. The building, renamed The Arc at Old Colony, is in the last stages of its $58 million update by CA Ventures LLC and MCJ Development. The building was originally constructed in 1894 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. This qualifies the building for a $10 million federal historic landmark tax credit, which is being guided by MacRostie Historic Advisors. McHugh Construction has completed the renovation and conversion of interior offices to 137 apartment units, which are 75 percent leased.
The vintage 17-story building, originally designed by famed architects Holabird and Roche, was among the tallest buildings in Chicago at the time of its construction in 1894. The Old Colony Building was one of the first of its kind to employ a unique structural portal wind-bracing system, allowing for open floor plates and thinner masonry exterior cladding.
The structure’s innovative design, dating back to the Columbian Exposition of 1893, reflects the evolving structural steel technology of the era. The building’s most distinctive features are the round oriel corner bays, oversized windows and upper level terra cotta colonnade.
Students began moving into the building on Aug. 21.