Centrum Properties
296 Units, 9 Stories
Chicago, IL

Montgomery Ward & Co. invented and perfected mail order product sales and built this complex of warehouses in several phases between 1908 and 1973 as a base of operation. The trend toward single floor warehouses ultimately made this 9-story concrete structure unsuitable for storage, but ideal for a mixed-use redevelopment. Uniquely challenging components were the deep floor plates, river frontage and limited street frontage and that necessitated strategies for articulation with multiple cores, new courtyards and recessed walkways and terraces. The scale of renovation was such that it impacted and rejuvenated an entire area, attracting further investment and re-development. Following the completion of this renovation, nearly 1300 dwellings, 1.5msf of commercial/Office space has been constructed on adjacent sites, in the process invigorating the near northwest side.