The owner of a Chicago site where century-old Dinkel’s Bakery closed in 2022 is seeking a buyer to complete the property’s planned transition from German pastries to 42 residential units in the Lakeview neighborhood.
Senco Properties has hired CBRE brokers to seek a sale of connected buildings at 3327 to 3335 N. Lincoln Ave., according to a brochure.
That developer, part of Chicago-based real estate company PCR Group, bought the property for $1.95 million in April 2022, according to Cook County property records.
The seller was Normal Dinkel, Jr., the third-generation owner of the business that sold “Dinkel’s World Famous Stollen” and other pastries, cakes, pies and breads from 1922 until selling the property and closing in 2022.
Dinkel’s was a neighborhood institution known for its large neon sign on the high-traffic street that stretches through the city’s North Side.
Senco, a developer of apartments and condominiums led by Bill Senn, won City Council zoning approval for a 42-unit residential development in December 2023.
A Senco affiliate took out a $4.3 million loan on the site from American Eagle Bank in September 2024, according to county records.
It’s unclear why Senco is now looking to sell rather than seeing through the redevelopment itself. Senn did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoStar News.
Developers have been challenged by factors such as high borrowing and interest costs, which has significantly slowed the pace of construction in Chicago in recent years. But unlike fast-growing markets in areas of the country such as the Sun Belt where a construction boom led to falling rents, the Chicago area leads all major markets in multifamily rent growth, according to a CoStar analysis.
The dearth of new supply and growing rents have led some developers to seek out Chicago buildings that they can convert to apartments.
One example in Lakeview is JAB Real Estate’s upcoming project to add onto the top and side of the former Brian Street Theater building, a 124-year-old structure that began as horse stables and most recently was home to a nearly three-decade run of Blue Man Group concerts, to create 66 apartments.
Zoning for the 13,368-square-foot Dinkel’s site allows for apartments or condos and 3,945 square feet of ground-floor retail, according to the CBRE materials.
For the record
The seller is represented by CBRE brokers Tom Svoboda and Dominic Soltero.