Wicker Park Landmark: Zero-Downtime Mixed-Use Reconstruction.

How we executed a full residential conversion and structural restoration while maintaining 100% operational uptime for street-level retail tenants.

Located in the heart of Wicker Park’s Milwaukee Avenue Historic District, this project represents complex urban adaptive reuse. As the general contractor, Integro was tasked with a high-stakes "vertical overlap": a total interior reconstruction and residential conversion of the 2nd floor, executed while the ground-floor retail tenants remained fully operational and open to the public.

The challenge was as much about logistics as it was about building science. We managed the phased reconstruction of load-bearing historical elements and the modernization of life-safety infrastructure—all within a 19th-century envelope. By grounding the project in operational continuity and Landmark-compliant precision, we converted underutilized office space into high-value residential yield without disrupting the building's existing revenue streams.

Project Specs.

Structural Integration

Phased reconstruction of historical load-bearing elements.

Operational Continuity

Advanced dust mitigation and acoustic separation for active retail tenants.

Full National Registery & Milwaukee Avenue Historic District compliance management.

Landmark Compliance

Life Safety

Modernizing egress and fire-suppression systems within a 19th-century envelope.

“This project served as the pilot for our Care-Anchored Mixed-Use model. By mastering the technical demands of a historic ground-floor retail space while delivering high-end residential above, we developed the framework we now apply to clinical healthcare and specialized education anchors.”


Strategic Yield Optimization

Wicker Park Landmark is a masterclass in strategic yield optimization. By mastering the technical demands of a historic ground-floor retail space while delivering high-end residential above, Integro de-risks the pro forma for urban landmark assets. We don't just build; we maximize the building’s total square-footage yield without compromising existing commercial leases.

Integro was named 2023 Contractor of the Year for Historical Restoration by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry in recognition of this project.

This project was recognized as an Honor Award Winner by the AIA Chicago Design Excellence Awards for Interior Architecture Small.

  • Tom Rossiter | Photography

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