Transforming a Historic Single-Room Occupancy Building in Chicago Into Affordable Apartments

Lawson House, a former single-room-occupancy building in Chicago's Gold Coast, was transformed into modern affordable apartments in 2024. The 24-story Art Deco building was originally built in 1931 to provide lodging and services to recent transplants to Chicago. Photo credit: Couch Fire Films

In April 2024, the Lawson House, a former YMCA community center and single-room occupancy (SRO) residential building in Chicago's Near North Side, reopened as affordable apartments. The newly renovated building offers 406 studio apartments and provides services for low-income Chicagoans, many of whom had experienced or nearly experienced homelessness. In 2017, the property was listed in the National Register of Historic Places because of its role in Chicago's history and its Art Deco style, emblematic of the city's early 20th-century architecture.

History of the Lawson House YMCA

The Victor F. Lawson House YMCA was built in 1931 after the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago received a bequest from the building's namesake, the former publisher of the Chicago Daily News. The 24-story Art Deco building in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood became the flagship property and headquarters of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. The first four floors featured community facilities such as gymnasiums, classrooms, a chapel, and a library, with single-occupancy bedrooms on most of the upper floors. At that time, as in many large cities, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago was one of the primary organizations helping young transplants acclimate to their new environment. Upon opening, the Lawson YMCA served the city's rapid influx of working-class residents, many of whom were immigrants, by providing lodging, helping them find jobs, and teaching them English. By the 1930s, the organization also had become open to serving people with diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds and started serving women. With roughly 600 units, Lawson House became the largest SRO supportive housing facility in the Midwest.

Lawson House has more than 400 studio apartments, all of which serve residents who earn between 0 and 60 percent of the area median income. The units have accessible features, and a quarter are fully accessible, with reconfigurable cabinets and roll-in showers. Photo credit: Ross Floyd

By the 1980s, the building had deteriorated, and more than 100 of the SRO units had become uninhabitable. The building needed new plumbing and electrical wiring as well as masonry repair. Although the organization had the funds to upgrade some systems in 1997, it was unable to modernize the building and bring it up to code. Even though the building was in poor condition, it still was providing lodging and support services to many extremely low-income individuals, including those who had experienced homelessness, leaving the YMCA reluctant to make changes that would force residents out. In 2014, however, the YMCA sold the property for a nominal sum to Holsten Real Estate Development Corporation, a developer that had raised the capital needed to clean, repair, and restore the building and convert the SRO units into larger studio apartments. As part of the sale, Holsten agreed to keep the units affordable for at least 50 years.

Renovating Lawson House

Before construction began, existing SRO residents were temporarily relocated, retaining the right to return when the renovation was complete. In 2021, Holsten began extensively renovating the building's interior and exterior. The developer added a kitchen and bathroom to each unit and upgraded the electrical; mechanical; plumbing; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, which significantly reduced the building's water and energy consumption. These improvements, along with the building's tightened envelope, contributed to an anticipated Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification. Holsten restored several historically significant features, including the chapel, library, second-floor lounge, and foyers, in compliance with preservation guidelines set by the National Park Service and the Illinois Historic Preservation Division.

The developer restored several historically significant features of the original YMCA building, including the chapel, library, second-floor lounge, and foyers. Photo credit: Ross Floyd

The building's location in a dense urban area limited available staging areas, making construction challenging. Irene Burke, a senior development manager at Holsten, says that the construction team used innovative methods, including installing a derrick on the roof of the building to place the steel structure of the new elevator and stair towers. The design and construction team also faced challenges associated with retrofitting the skeleton and the systems of the aging building. "The development team marshaled numerous funding partners and service providers to make the project financially feasible despite its scale and the challenges of preserving affordable housing in this iconic Chicago building for decades to come," Burke explained.

Funding sources for the $129 million renovation included low-income housing tax credits, state historic tax credits, and HUD HOME Investment Partnerships loans from the city and the Illinois Housing Development Authority. The project also benefited from a loan from ComEd, Chicago's electric utility company, for its energy-conserving features. During construction, the equity sources were bridged with an $85.5 million loan.

Lawson House reopened with 409 refurbished studio apartments, 3 of which were set aside for in-house managers. All the units were furnished with a bed, drawers, and a kitchen table and chairs. Cabinet heights are accessible in all the apartments, and a quarter of the units are fully accessible, with reconfigurable cabinets, roll-in showers, and accessible window actuators; the other units can be made fully accessible if needed. The repurposed building has multiple common amenities, including lounges with televisions on each floor and an outdoor rooftop terrace with a food preparation area. The former pool area was converted into a community room, and the former gymnasium became a fitness center. The building also features ground-level retail space.

The apartments serve households earning between 0 and 60 percent of the area median income (AMI), with subsidies associated with income limits of 15, 30, 45, and 60 percent of AMI. HUD project-based rental assistance supports 100 of these apartments, including public housing units supported through HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program and supportive units funded through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The Chicago Housing Authority provides project-based vouchers for 100 units and HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers for 30 units. The Chicago-Low Income Housing Trust Fund, which is supported primarily through developer fees from the city’s inclusionary housing program, funds an additional 122 units. Furthermore, Renaissance Social Services offers rental subsidies for at least 50 residents who have experienced, or who were on the verge of experiencing, homelessness.

Lawson House is centrally located in the Gold Coast neighborhood in Chicago's Near North Side. Residents are within a few blocks of restaurants, stores, parks, schools, and other amenities. The property is also adjacent to an "L" train station.

Supporting Residents

Renaissance Social Services and Holsten Human Capital Development provide support services for Lawson House residents. Onsite staff develop a service plan for each resident that lays out their short-term and long-term goals. Staff help residents in various ways, including complying with lease requirements, finding employment, and managing benefits. They also help residents develop life skills, such as teaching them to cook in the community kitchen. In addition, the staff provide referrals for health and wellness services, including mental health care and substance abuse support. "The development provides high-quality housing with long-term rental subsidies to ensure [that] tenants with limited resources have access to affordable housing and supportive services in one of the most amenity-rich neighborhoods in Chicago," Burke said. Nearly 100 years after it was built, the Lawson House is still serving Chicagoans in need.

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