A Chicago developer plans to knock down a medical office building near Diversey Harbor on the city’s North Side and replace it with an approximately 300-unit residential high-rise, joining a queue of multifamily projects in a market where rent growth has outpaced most of the country.
Continuum Development said it paid $17.25 million this week for the six-story structure at 2800 N. Sheridan Road. The seller was Ascension Health.
The building is at the intersection of Diversey Parkway and Sheridan, at the border of the Lakeview and Lincoln Park neighborhoods. It is just west of the harbor on Lake Michigan.
Evan Meador, co-founder and managing member at Continuum, told CoStar News that the firm eventually plans to demolish the building and replace it with a high-rise apartment building in a venture with Chicago Development Partners.
The exact size of the project is yet to be determined, pending meetings with the community and 44th Ward Alderman Bennett Lawson, Meador said. The developer envisions an approximately 300-unit tower on the site, which would be in line with underlying zoning density, a Continuum spokesperson said.
“This corner represents a gateway into Lakeview but is currently underutilized, making it a prime candidate for a mixed-use high-rise development with community-serving retail,” Meador said in an emailed statement. “While there is no specific timeline at this stage, we anticipate beginning public meetings in 2026. We are committed to working collaboratively with the alderman, neighborhood organizations and local residents to deliver a project that maximizes the potential of this site.”
The project, which would include some retail space, is being drawn up after years of higher borrowing and construction costs that have limited ground-up development. Strong rent growth relative to other markets, maturing loans and other factors have led to a wave of major multifamily sales in Chicago and the suburbs in 2025.
Recent sales in the city include a nearly $175 million deal for the 398-unit North Water Apartments in Streeterville and a $134.5 million deal for the 275-unit Milieu tower in the West Loop.
In a deal to be completed early next year, two investors have agreed to pay $455 million for a nearly 1,500-unit portfolio of properties in the city and suburbs as part of the wind-down of Apartment Investment and Management Co., a real estate investment trust based in Denver.
It’s unclear why Ascension Health, a nonprofit Catholic healthcare system, decided to sell the building. The system did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoStar News.
Continuum is the real estate development arm of Chicago-based alternative investment firm Continuum Capital.
Meador previously worked for Michigan Avenue Real Estate Group, whose leaders include Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Reinsdorf's firm is not involved in the Sheridan Road project.
Developer’s other projects
Continuum’s other real estate projects include plans to build a 358-unit residential tower within the Church Street Plaza shopping center in Evanston, a property just north of Chicago that the firm bought for $31.2 million in September.
In far north suburban Libertyville, Continuum recently finalized plans for a four-story, 91-unit project at 747 N. Milwaukee Ave., adjacent to a Metra train station.
“With limited new supply and strong rent growth relative to other markets, Chicago remains a premier city with significant lifestyle appeal and a deep sense of community,” Meador said in the statement. “There is simply not enough housing — both market-rate and attainable — to meet the current demand, and we remain bullish on the long-term future of Chicago and suburban rental markets. As with our other current projects in downtown Evanston and Libertyville, we pursued this [Chicago] site with the same core thesis that this is a location that cannot be replicated.”
For the record
The seller was represented by Cushman & Wakefield brokers Cody Hundertmark and Tom Sitz.