The normal sights at the busy downtown Aurora intersection of Downer Place and Stolp Avenue had an addition recently.
A sign announcing leasing at the Keystone Building Lofts, just a few feet away along Stolp, signals the near completion of an anxiously awaited major renovation of a downtown historic building.
“We’re just trying to get some action going,” said Justin Fern, founding principal of Urban Equity Properties, which is redeveloping the historic Keystone Building at 30 S. Stolp Ave.
As Fern stood on the sidewalk outside the Keystone, he said the building already has about six leases of its 33 units, even though the building still is going through some of the final work.
“The goal is to have all of them all leased by the end of October,” Fern said.
The Keystone Building is one of two major historic renovations Urban Equity is doing; it also is doing The Terminal Building at Galena Boulevard and Broadway in the heart of downtown, which Fern said is about 80% finished.
But the Keystone is about turn-key ready, featuring a mix of historic features – wide hallways, classic lighting fixtures, special glass, big windows – with brand new appointments and appliances, and new carpeting in some places, and classic, old cement floors in others.
Caleb Wilson, executive vice president for Leasing and Management for Urban Equity, said the older features in an urban setting are a definite selling point for the property.
“Where do you see a hallway this large?” he said.
Some of the history is clearly evident, such as in the fourth-floor unit being used as a model by the company, that still has windows that label it as the one-time home of the law firm of Nelson and Dunn – for those who don’t know, that’s Marvin Dunn, who was a longtime attorney who became a judge, and spent time as the chief judge in the 16th Circuit Court in Kane County.
Fern said part of the reason developers decided to keep the law firm’s glass in place is that it is Italian Pulegoso, or bubble glass. That special glass was used in places throughout the building.
Developers gathered it up and they are reusing it on the fourth floor.
It’s a look that can only come from a repurposed, historical renovation, something Urban Equity specializes in and has been successful with in Rockford, and now Aurora.
Built in 1922, the Keystone Building is actually a triangle, built after fire destroyed much of the Silverplate Building next door, another historic building. The Keystone utilized a part of the Silverplate Building that was left.
Subsequently, the second and third floor of the Keystone features what Fern calls the “historic wing,” older and laid out differently than the other floors in the building. There are some things done differently to the historic wing than the rest of the building, including hardwood floors and different layouts in the units.
The combination of old and new in the Keystone actually fits well with modern sensibilities, Fern said. The new utilities are energy efficient, and the older building is itself a giant example of recycling.
“This thing was built to last 100 years,” Fern said. “That’s the only reason we’re able to do this, because it was built to last.”
The Keystone is considered an example of the Prairie School of architecture, which flourished in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It was designed by George Grant Elmslie, a Scottish-born immigrant who at one time worked with Frank Lloyd Wright, while both worked in the office of Louis Sullivan in the late 19th century.
Urban Equity Properties purchased the Keystone in 2018, signed a redevelopment agreement with the city in 2019 and began renovating the building. Due to unforeseen circumstances during the pandemic shutdown in 2020, the company incurred more costs on its way to the renovation.
On Tuesday, the City Council will vote on an amendment to that redevelopment agreement that would result in the city putting in about $375,000 more in incentives than planned. But Urban Equity is kicking in about $2.3 million more in equity to the project.
Fern said the city’s willingness to invest in projects, as well as the vision to see what the renovations can do for downtown, is one of the key factors that attracted the company to Aurora. It also helped that Aurora is one of the five cities, including Rockford and Elgin, in the River Edge Redevelopment Zone, which allowed the company to sell historic tax credits.
Urban Equity is looking at two more downtown properties for two new redevelopment projects, Fern said.
“We want to step it up here,” he said.
