A Chicago building that began as horse stables and most recently hosted a nearly three-decade run of Blue Man Group concerts could be headed to a new chapter in its colorful history, with a local developer seeking approval to expand the structure and turn it into apartments.
Chicago developer JAB Real Estate is seeking a zoning change to convert the Briar Street Theater on the city’s North Side into 66 residential units, according to information on the website of 44th Ward Alderman Bennett Lawson.
The plan is emerging about five months after Blue Man Group, the bald-headed, blue-colored musicians known for percussion-based performances, ended a nearly three-decade run at the theater in January.
If approved, JAB’s project would add three stories atop the historic two-story building at Briar Place and Halsted Street, less than a mile south of Wrigley Field. The Higgins, as the proposed building is called, would include an addition to the south side of the building, with the new building including 14 interior car parking spaces, 58 bike spaces, first-floor commercial space and a rooftop deck.
“The proposed redevelopment of the Briar Street Theater is at the start of the community engagement process,” Lawson said in a statement to CoStar News. “I look forward to listening to residents about how we can best move that site forward before making any decisions, and I encourage all of those in the neighborhood to reach out to our office to share their thoughts.”
JAB’s plan would continue an eclectic mix of uses for the Briar Place building, which was built in 1901 as stables for horses that the Marshall Field & Co. department store chain used as part of its delivery service, according to the theater’s website.
The property was sold by a storage and moving company in 1970 to Walter Topel, who later converted it into a theater, according to the Briar Street website. Topel died in 1987, but his family has continued to own the property.
Blue Man Group began its residency in the building in 1997.
It’s unclear whether JAB’s deal to buy and redevelop the property is contingent on zoning approval or how soon the developer hopes to begin the project. JAB Managing Principal Frank Campise declined to comment.
Amid high costs for ground-up construction and high demand for apartments in neighborhoods such as Lakeview, developers have sought to convert existing buildings, including office towers, into residences.
In a similar project less than 4 miles southwest of the Lakeview project, another local developer recently bought the long-vacant, five-story Hollander Storage & Moving building in Logan Square. That firm plans to expand the building and create 62 apartments.