On May 28, 2026, the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) Commissioner Ciere Boatright announced that a café and event space is the winning proposal to repurpose the former Rogers Park firehouse at 1721-23 W Greenleaf Ave. The $3 million project by developer Ryan Cummings will reuse the 111-year-old, City-owned structure as a 2,000-square-foot coffee house with more than 4,000 square feet of event space and offices on the second level. The proposed purchase price is the building’s market value of $350,050.

The project was one of five responses to an October 2025 DPD Request for Proposals (RFP) that prioritized the 6,323-square-foot structure’s adaptive re-use. Submissions were evaluated based on the proposed concept as well as the development team’s financial capacity, relevant experience and overall project feasibility, among other factors. The project team also includes Michael Salvatore of Chicago-based Heritage Hospitality Group.

Above, you can see the firehouse as it currently stands on the left, and the rendering of the proposed space on the right.

In order for the development team to repurpose the firehouse, the building will need to be rezoned from RT-4 (a primarily-residential zoning designation) to B3-4 (a more business-oriented zoning designation). Alderwoman Hadden wishes to gather the community's feedback on this zoning change to allow for this new café/event space and hear your thoughts on this adaptive reuse proposal.

You can fill out this survey here, which will be open for two weeks and close on Sunday July 5.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our Infrastructure and Communications Coordinator, Zach Joseph, at zach@49thward.org, or call our office at 773-338-5796.