Historic building converts to apartments (Flats No. 800), gets 15-floor tower addition
Published: 1/30/19
River North’s historic Bush Temple of Music at 108 W Chicago recently received a complete restoration and reconfiguration. The project converted unused office space into 101 micro-apartments. While the seven-floor Bush Temple of Music conversion into Flats No. 800 was completed in December, 2017, work on the project’s 15-floor, next-door addition is just now close to topping-out.
The French Renaissance Revival-style Bush Temple of Music building was designed by J.E.O. Pridmore and completed in 1901. Around the turn of the 20th century, much of the musical instrument manufacturing in America as well as sheet music publishing took place within Chicago city limits. Bush and Gerts Piano Co. set up their showroom and headquarters in the Bush Temple of Music at this time, when the city of Chicago was a world-class piano manufacturing center.
Apartments within the old Bush Temple of Music building range in size from between 350 and 450 square-feet. Each micro-unit is unique- some have a bay window, exposed brick and skylights. All have in-unit washer and dryer as well as wood plank flooring throughout. Kitchens in these River North apartments are equipped with a Smeg refrigerator.
The only floor plans available in the Bush Temple of Music building, aside from a single two-bedroom unit, include studio and one-bedroom apartments. The 15-floor addition will contain another 129 cozy micro-units for rent.
Flats No. 800 residents have exclusive access to the 5,000-square-foot basement-level gym, where they can do everything from take a run on a treadmill to attend regular fitness classes. The fully-equipped gym even has a boxing ring.
HPA designed the interior of the Bush Temple of Music conversion as well as the high-rise addition at 810 N Clark St. Method Construction is tasked with construction of the new contemporary high-rise. Cedar Street Cos., which bought the property in late 2014, developed the entire historical restoration / adaptive reuse / high-rise addition project.
Many architectural elements from the original building were retained in the retrofit including the terrazzo floor, marble walls as well as the exterior terra-cotta accents. For their preservation efforts on Flats No. 800, developers received a Real Estate and Building Industries Council (RBIC) Award from Landmarks Illinois in 2017. This award honors projects that achieve successful adaptive reuse through preservation.
The rehabbed Bush Temple building and new tower addition are located on the same block as other recently-completed projects, including Clark Chestnut Condos, the LDS meetinghouse and Eight O Five.
