Five Stories Up on Belle Plaine: A Demolition Permit Signals North Center's Newest Residential Chapter
By Socialhood News · North Center ·
A century-old building on West Belle Plaine Avenue is about to come down — and what replaces it will add 15 new homes to the heart of North Center's most walkable corridor.
On Thursday, November 13, the City of Chicago approved a demolition permit for the single-story masonry building at 2014 W. Belle Plaine Avenue in North Center, clearing the legal path for a planned five-story, 15-unit residential development to rise on the site. The permit applicant is listed as 2014 Belle Plaine Holdings LLC, and Carlos Group will serve as the demolition contractor at a reported cost of $20,000. The structure being torn down dates to 1916, according to CountyOffice.org — meaning the building has stood for more than 110 years before making way for what comes next.
The development that follows is already taking shape on paper. A building permit has been pending in the Chicago Data Portal since August 10 for a new masonry building on the same parcel. Plans drawn up by Michael Cox & Associates call for retail space on the ground floor alongside bicycle parking and a seven-car garage, with the parking accessed through rear alleys off West Warner Avenue to the north. That ground-floor retail component is a meaningful detail: it means the project isn't purely residential, but designed to animate the street level as well.
Location matters here. The Belle Plaine address sits directly off the Northcenter Town Square streetscape plaza — the public gathering space between North Damen and North Lincoln Avenues that the city completed in 2020. That plaza has become one of the neighborhood's most used outdoor spots, hosting farmers markets, community events, and daily foot traffic. A five-story building with ground-floor retail landing on its edge would be one of the more prominent new additions to that corridor since the plaza itself was built. CTA riders are well-served too: North-south Route 50 Damen buses stop just yards away at Belle Plaine and Damen Avenues, and East-West Route 80 buses stop one block south at Irving Park Road.
No general contractor has been named yet for the construction phase, and the new building permit has not yet been issued — meaning the project still has permitting steps ahead before vertical construction begins. But the demolition approval, issued just two days ago, is the tangible first move: once Carlos Group takes down the 1916 structure, the site is cleared for what's next.
For a neighborhood that has absorbed a steady stream of new residential construction throughout 2025 and 2026, the Belle Plaine project fits a recognizable pattern. North Center has seen infill development accumulate along its main corridors — from smaller two-unit buildings on residential side streets to larger multi-story projects along Lincoln, Western, and Irving Park. What distinguishes the 2014 W. Belle Plaine project is its proximity to the Town Square plaza and the Town Square's role as the neighborhood's de facto public living room. New residents in those 15 units will walk out their front doors into one of the most activated public spaces on the North Side.
While the wrecking crew prepares for Belle Plaine, the Northcenter Chamber of Commerce calendar shows the neighborhood has plenty going on this weekend as well. Today, Sunday, November 15, the Chamber lists a "Sunday Slowdown at Free Mvmt" — a low-key wellness event at Free Mvmt, the North Center fitness studio, designed to ease neighbors into the week ahead. And tomorrow, Monday, November 16, the Chamber calendar shows a Chicago Transit Future Discussion on the schedule, giving residents a chance to weigh in on transit planning at a moment when the neighborhood's development pipeline is adding density and demand along bus and train corridors alike.
For neighbors tracking what's being built and where, the Chicago Data Portal's building permit database is publicly searchable by address. Chicago YIMBY, which broke the Belle Plaine demolition permit story on November 14, provides ongoing coverage of North Center development filings and is worth bookmarking for anyone who wants to follow construction projects from permit to ribbon-cutting. The Northcenter Chamber of Commerce at northcenterchamber.com is the best single source for community events, and the November 16 transit discussion in particular is worth attending if you have opinions about how buses and trains serve a neighborhood that keeps growing.
Sources:
1. https://chicagoyimby.com/2026/11/north-center-demolition-permit-points-to-beginning-of-15-unit-residential-building.html
2. https://business.northcenterchamber.com/events/calendar/