Urban Equity Properties held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark construction of the Keystone Building Lofts, an $11 Million, multi-unit redevelopment of the historic Keystone Building at 30 S. Stolp Avenue in downtown Aurora.
“We are taking yet another building in Aurora and breathing new life into it,” said Aurora mayor Richard C. Irvin. “The transformation that is currently happening will have a positive impact on our city for generations. We are proud to partner with Urban Equities on two key projects in downtown and more in the future.”
The four-story Keystone Building was built in 1922 as the Joseph George and Newhall Building. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
“We are honored to begin our second project in Aurora,” said Justin Fern, Urban Equity Properties founding principal. “This has been a tremendous experience to play a pivotal role in the redevelopment renaissance happening in downtown Aurora.”
The first project by Urban Equity Properties in Aurora, started in the Summer, is known as the Terminal Building at Galena Boulevard and Broadway. It was built in 1906 and the six-story building was the tallest in Illinois outside of Chicago when it was built.
As the new Keystone Lofts, the ground level will be comprised of retail spaces and the upper three floors will feature 33, one-bedroom luxury apartments. Each apartment will have high ceilings, granite countertops, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances and in-unit laundry facilities. Tenants will have a private lounge and updated elevators. Construction is scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2020.
“The more people call downtown home, the more downtown will thrive,” Fern said to those in attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony. “We have seen this in other cities, and we are certainly seeing it in Aurora.”
Urban Equity Properties is redeveloping the Terminal Building in downtown Aurora as the new Lofts on Broadway, which will have 20 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments and a restaurant on the ground level.
The company has 10 other redevelopment residential properties in Rockford, which include more than 150 residential units, and recently purchased the 13-story former State Farm building in Bloomington and will redevelop it into 230 luxury apartments.
—City government of Aurora