The 3115 N. Broadway building is a 5-story 1930’s era Art Deco parking garage built at a time when the popularity of private automobiles was reaching new levels. Over the years, its detailed concrete façade with fluted columns and ceramic ornamentation had been covered by over EIFS. The first-floor façade had been removed entirely and replaced with inconsistent storefront and masonry. To make the redevelopment more challenging, the unique site is completely landlocked on three sides with only the Broadway facade facing a public ROW, severely limiting access and window locations which can provide for light and vent. The renovation plans called for the addition of two new floors plus a roof deck tucked in behind the existing parapet, and the removal of the northeast bays to provide on-site open space, light and vent. The resulting plan provides for 72 residential units and parking for 56 cars. The Broadway Art Deco façade was re-exposed and repaired to bring back some of the building’s 1930s era glory. This adaptive reuse took an underutilized and underappreciated asset and remade it into an iconic structure for the East Lakeview community.
