Loyola Avenue Flatiron Building, Chicago
R. Bernard Kurzon's 30-unit flatiron building combined housing, neighborhood businesses, and arts spaces before university expansion erased the triangular landmark.
Watchlist Blog
Loyola demolishes a 1926 flatiron of apartments and arts spaces
University expansion removed R. Bernard Kurzon's 30-unit Rogers Park building along with the cafe and independent galleries that occupied its storefronts.
February 24, 2026
Loyola Avenue Flatiron Building, Chicago
Updated 2026
The demolition at 1224 West Loyola erased a triangular neighborhood marker, existing housing, and small cultural-commercial rooms in one institutional land decision.
Demolition began in February on the 1926 flatiron building at 1224 West Loyola Avenue. Loyola University removed a 30-unit apartment structure whose storefronts had supported Archie's Cafe, Roman Susan Gallery, and Edge Art.
The loss cannot be reduced to architectural style. Housing, small-business frontage, arts infrastructure, and a recognizable neighborhood corner disappeared together.
Read the full place record in Loyola Avenue Flatiron Building, Chicago.
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The flatiron's loss removed thirty homes and a small arts ecosystem from the same corner.
What Came Down
R. Bernard Kurzon designed the masonry building in 1926 to follow the site's triangular geometry. Thirty apartments sat above storefronts.
Loyola's acquisition and demolition folded the parcel into an expanding university land footprint.
What To Watch Next
The replacement plan, housing count, public street frontage, construction schedule, and any acknowledgment of former cultural tenants remain to be documented.
The record should compare the new institutional use with the mixed residential and commercial activity that was removed.