An iconic downtown Waukegan building that was built in 1920 and has sat nearly vacant for 20 years — the onetime YMCA — is on its way to a full restoration with five renovated apartments rented on the second story and expanded commercial interests on the ground floor.
When the Waukegan Community Development Partnership first approached the city in 2024 with plans for a $315 million downtown redevelopment with 700 residences and 70,000 square feet of commercial space, city officials suggested starting with two smaller projects.
Putting the YMCA building under contract, one of the partners — real estate developer Mikki Schuk — bought a building at 38 North Genesee Street. The group opened it in May, 2025, with eight apartments on the second and third floors and plans for a restaurant on the ground level.
The partnership is currently putting the finishing touches on the ground floor of the YMCA building at the northwest corner of County and Clayton streets, with tenants already occupying the five complete apartments on the second floor and working toward further downtown development.
Lowell Jaffe, the lead developer of the partnership, said the Waukegan Boxing Academy, which has leased ground-floor space for nearly two years, recently rented additional space. He is close to cementing a deal with a bank for the rest of the first floor.
“We’re in the final stages of bringing a bank into the YMCA building,” Jaffe said. “There hasn’t been a bank in downtown Waukegan for three years. The gym and the bank will take nearly all the (first-floor) space.
With the five second-story apartments fully rented in June, Schuk said work is ongoing on the third and fourth floors, where there will be seven one-bedroom units on each level. He expects them to be finished in December.
Carlos Smith, the on-air personality of the Crazy Riot Show broadcast regularly on social media, is one of the new residents. He broadcasts his show a block away and said he jumped at the idea of living in a fully renovated apartment with all new appliances.
“I like the experience of this fresh design,” Smith said. “I don’t have to drive anywhere. Everything is in close proximity. The not-for-profits I work with are all close by. I can walk everywhere I want to go.”
Schuk said the third- and fourth-floor one-bedroom apartments are 620 square feet and will rent for approximately $1,450 a month. It took less than a month to lease the second-story units.
A few blocks away, Schuk said the blue “Restaurant” sign at the 30 North Genesee Street project will be advertising an eatery once again when El Patio restaurant opens in less than two weeks. It will feature cuisine from the Dominican Republic.
“It will be open for Scoop,” Schuk said, referring to the city’s annual festival of vintage cars along several blocks of Genesee on July 10 and 11.
Already working on their next project, Jaffe said as soon as the ribbon is cut on the YMCA building, the partnership intends to announce its plans for the eight-story vacant building at the southeast corner of Genesee and Washington streets.
A one-time office building, Jaffe said the upper seven floors will be residential. He hopes some of the units will provide housing for College of Lake County students from the Lakeshore Campus, a few blocks north.
Schuk said he saw potential in downtown Waukegan in 2019 when he bought and renovated the one-time Blumberg Furniture building at 100 South Genesee. He now owns and rents 130 apartment units in downtown Waukegan, including two multi-use buildings set to open on Washington Street on July 21.
“Downtown Waukegan is a diamond in the rough in between Chicago and Milwaukee,” Schuk said. “It’s by Lake Michigan. You have the train; you have transportation. It has the feeling of a city.”
A building at 220 West Washington St. will have Crystal Flower, a business Schuk describes as “an artistic shop,” on the ground floor. Three apartments — a studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom — will be on the top two stories.
At 222 West Washington St., Schuk said the newly renovated apartments will be the same as those next door. On the ground floor is a law office.
Another major downtown mixed-use development is in the works at the southeast corner of Clayton and County streets with a different developer.
David Motley, the city’s public relations director, said Thursday the city is negotiating a development agreement for the property there known as Parking Lot B, which will be a “mixed- use development in the heart of downtown Waukegan.”
