1949 E 73rd Pl

South Shore · Chicago · Ward 7

Building: Built 1924 · 3 stories · 25 units
Prepared: September 2026

1 Executive summary

This report synthesizes public information to provide insights on building condition and potential deferred maintenance relative to peers.

1949 E 73rd Pl is a 1924, 25-unit three-story walk-up in South Shore. It burned twice in 2025: a noon fire on 20 January that ran through all three floors at 1951, and an early-morning fire on 5 October that killed a 73-year-old tenant and sent three people to the hospital. The city’s inspections that October found the 1957 stairway coated in soot, the windows boarded, wiring and floors damaged by fire and water, hallway smoke detectors missing and a tenant heating apartment 1B with the oven, and ordered plans and a permit for every fire repair. The permit application — repairs to seven fire-damaged apartments and new lintels on the north wall — was filed in April 2026 and had cleared every review but the last by September; it has not been issued, and on 20 September 2026 tenants reported no water, out-of-date extinguishers and the burned apartments still open. The city has taken the building to circuit court three times since 1996.

Against 9 South Shore courtyard walk-ups of the same age and size, permitted work reaches the city’s file at only 3 of them, so the inspection record is the better measure, and the city’s file holds more violations than eight of the nine. The file since shows facade, fire-system and heating complaints, one of them open today.

SBI Chicago LLC bought it in May 2024 in a 3-parcel sale of $9,300,000; the Assessor now values it on income at $1.9M.

Building condition

Permits since 2006 show $35k of building-scale work, about $1k a unit.

2008$30,000 permit to replace the five open wood porches as existing.

2010Six steel lintels replaced and eighteen bathroom windows swapped for vented glass block, $5,000; the owner of record pulled the permit himself.

2017A complaint inspection at 1955–1957 cited rotted window frames, a bowed porch upright, a fractured south wall, open parapet joints and water damage in 1957 2A; all seventeen citations were marked complied.

2018Sold for $1,375,000 to the SS MP group; $4,500 tuckpointing permit.

2020Sold for $1,650,000 to Woodlawn & South Shore LLC with 7131 S Bennett and 6600 S Ingleside.

2021Complaint inspection at 1949: water-damaged stair ceiling, open parapet joints, a broken entry frame, mice and a dead smoke detector in 2A — eleven citations, still open.

2022Annual inspection: a north lintel bent and packed with mortar, broken panes, washed-out mortar at grade; open.

May 2024Sold with its two sister buildings for $9,300,000 to SBI Chicago LLC of Brooklyn.

Nov 2024Annual inspection: a basement door kicked in by squatters, porch guardrails broken, no answer at the interior.

Jan 2025On the 3rd, eighteen citations: a new beam, posts and joists in the 1949 basement built without a permit, rusted north lintels under capping, basements full of debris, gates that do not lock. On the 20th a noon fire ran through all three floors at 1951. On the 31st the boiler was out and 1B stood at 54 degrees with no water.

Jun 2025Shattered entry glass at 1949, a spongy floor and water-stained ceiling in 1B, mailboxes falling from the wall.

Oct 2025Fire before dawn on the 5th; a 73-year-old tenant died and three were hospitalized. Inspections on the 21st and 29th: soot, boarded windows, fire-damaged wiring and floors, missing detectors, an oven used for heat; plans and a permit ordered for all fire repairs. The city took the building to circuit court in 2025 alongside an open hearing case.

Apr 2026Permit application for repairs to seven fire-damaged apartments and lintel replacement on the north wall.

Sep 2026Every review but the last cleared; no permit issued. On the 20th, four 311 calls: no running water, low pressure, out-of-date extinguishers, a back door that does not open, the burned apartments still open.

City inspectionInspect14 violations from the Oct 2025 inspection are open on the city record: 4 inside 2 units (smoke detectors); 7 in common areas or on the exterior (rotting or spalling exterior surfaces, smoke detectors, walls and ceilings). 52 older citations from 2017–2025 still read open on the record (rotting or spalling exterior surfaces, walls and ceilings, windows). 6 administrative hearings and 3 circuit court cases on the building's record since 1996.A long list from one visit usually means a complaint brought the inspector in; the close-out is what matters now.

FacadeInspect1 facade permit since 2006, latest $5k in 2018. 2 open facade violations from Oct 2025: front and rear elevations: windows are boraded with plywood after recent fires.

Fire systemsInspectBurned around 2025. 3 open fire-safety violations from Oct 2025: install required smoke detectors in hallways.

Hot water · heatInspect8 reports of no hot water or heat between Nov 2023 and Sep 2026, most in winter; the city closed 7 of them as no cause.A recurring pattern points at the domestic hot-water plant or its risers rather than at any one unit.

Boilers · mechanicalAskNo boiler inspection on record.

Pests · leaksGood4 leak or water-intrusion reports, Nov 2021 and May 2026.

Porches · stairsGoodPorches replaced Feb 2008, $30k.

Comparable rentals

9 South Shore courtyard walk-ups built 1921–1931 with 15–61 units: the capital work the city holds permits for, per unit, beside each building’s inspection record. Building-scale permitted work since 2006 reaches the city’s file at only 3 of 9 peers (median $4k a unit), so the permit file separates little here; the inspection file is the measure.

7255 S Euclid ($26k a unit, porches job of $350k in 2010), 7451 S Bennett ($16k a unit, a job of $250k in 2014) and 7201 S Constance ($16k a unit, risers job of $395k in 2018) are the peers with building-scale work on permit; the other six sit under $4k a unit. Permits since 2006 show $1k of building-scale work a unit at 1949 E 73rd Pl against a cohort median of $4k; the 3 peers above the floor are the ones to read.

1949 E 73rd Pl holds 119 violations on file; 7131 S Bennett with 159 carries a heavier file. 5 of 9 peers carry a violation the city opened in the past year, and seven have been to circuit court.

This block

This buildingA peer, shaded by permitted work per unit — darker is moreNumbers are the rows in the table below.

Building	Year	Units	Permitted work since 2006 / unit	City record
1949 E 73rd Plthis building	1924	25	$1k a unitno permit on file	14 open119 violations · 3 court cases
17201 S Constance1825–1831 E 72nd St	1921	28	$16k a unitrisers 2018, $395k	11 open99 violations · 3 court cases
27451 S Bennett1854–1864 E 75th St	1923	30	$16k a unitother 2014, $250k	none open89 violations · 2 court cases
37131 S Bennett7131–7151 S Bennett Ave	1923	61	$419 a unitno permit on file	21 open159 violations · 2 court cases
47255 S Euclid1940–1944 E 73rd St	1925	15	$26k a unitporches 2010, $350k	none open0 violations · 1 court case
57400 S Chappel2021–2021 E 74th St	1926	18	$4k a unitno permit on file	2 open107 violations · 5 court cases
67237 S Bennett7237–7243 S Bennett Ave	1926	26	$4k a unitfacade 2023, $50k	9 open89 violations · 4 court cases
71934 E 74th1934–1934 E 74th St	1927	19	$1k a unitno permit on file	7 open72 violations
81962 E 73rd1962–1972 E 73rd Pl	1929	51	$196 a unitno permit on file	none open37 violations
97317 S Chappel7317–7325 S Chappel Ave	1931	26	$1k a unitno permit on file	none open10 violations · 4 court cases
Cohort median			$4k a unit0 major systems	89 violations

Peer notes

17201 S Constance. A corner building, 7201–7209 S Constance and 1825–1831 E 72nd, marketed as 28 one-bedroom units with heat included; a $395,000 permit of May 2018 replaced drywall, doors and plumbing fixtures across both frontages.¹
27451 S Bennett. "Deconvert from 30 DU and retails to 30 DU", a $650,000 permit of January 2013.²
37131 S Bennett. The subject’s sister building, 7131–7151 S Bennett: 61 apartments, sold alongside it in 2018, 2020 and in the $9.3 million portfolio sale of May 2024.³
47255 S Euclid. "Renovation of existing 15 D.U. building" with one porch repaired and one replaced, a $350,000 permit of February 2010.²
57400 S Chappel. "18 unit building" in the inspector’s own words on a November 2021 broken-boiler citation.²
67237 S Bennett. "Existing 26 DU 3 story" on a $30,000 permit of May 2024 repairing fire damage in apartment 7239-3A; a $50,000 lintel, chimney and tuckpointing permit in 2023 answered 2019 citations.²
71934 E 74th. The building behind the subject, across the alley: "3 story, 19 units masonry residential" by a $65,000 permit of June 2022 renovating three apartments.²
81962 E 73rd. The corner building across the street, 1962–1972 E 73rd Pl at 7316 S Jeffery: 51 dwelling units by the city’s building record.⁴
97317 S Chappel. 7317–7325 S Chappel, 26 dwelling units and three stories by the city’s building record.⁴

Ownership & lot

SBI Chicago LLC has held 1949 E 73rd Pl since May 2024. The county holds six transfers since 2000. The Assessor’s value rose 53 percent at the 2024 reassessment, to $186,400 for 2026. The 2020 and 2021 reassessments were appealed and reduced — $106,970 to $99,341 and $144,300 to $121,893 — and the 2024 value of $186,400 stands as mailed. The community garden across the street, on the corner of 73rd Street, is a separate parcel bought in February 2020 for $21,000 by an LLC named 1949-1957 E 73rd; it is not part of the building. The Assessor values it on income at $1.9M: $149,127 of net operating income capitalized at 8.0%, above the last single-parcel price, $1,650,000 in 2020.

Ownership

TaxpayerSBI Chicago LLC

Assessor income card 2024market value $1.9M · NOI $149k · cap rate 8.0% · 20,298 sq ft · multifamily-low rise (3 floors or less)

Assessed value$91,011 (2017) → $186,400 (2026), +105%

Ground floorNo storefront license on file

ProgramsOpportunity Zone

Subsidized unitsNone on file

Lot

ZoningRT-4 · Residential two-flat, townhouse and multi-unit district

Homes12 on this land at one per 1,000 sq ft · 25 on record

Floor area1.2 × the lot = about 15,000 sq ft · 20,298 sq ft on the Assessor’s card

Land12,500 sq ft

TransitBryn Mawr (Metra, South Shore), 7 min on foot · transit-served: parking minimums relaxed

FloodOutside the FEMA flood hazard area

Permits since 20062

City inspections22 since 1996, 17 failed, 6 administrative hearings, 3 circuit court cases

311, building, 5 yr37: Buildings - Plumbing Violation (16), Building Violation (10), No Water Complaint (6), Rodent Baiting/Rat Complaint (2), Low Water Pressure Complaint (1), Sanitation Code Violation (1), Tree Emergency (1)

Sale history

Date	Price	Buyer	Seller	Deed
May 2024	$9,300,000	—	—	other · 3 parcels
December 2020	$1,650,000	Woodlawn & South Shore	SS MP 1947 E. 73RD Place	other
September 2018	$1,375,000	SS MP 1947 E. 73RD Place	1949 E. 73RD Place LLC	other
March 2008	$1,325,000	1949 E 73RD PL LLC	South S Inv LLC	warranty deed
October 2003	$1,116,000	South Side Investment LLC	Lake Side Ban AS Trustee	trustee deed
August 2000	$575,000	—	—	trustee deed

Quick questions

Questions to put to the seller and the property manager (feel free to ).

Rent roll Ask for the current rent roll, the leases and two years of operating statements; the Assessor’s income card carries a net operating income of $149,127 capitalized at 8.0%, and the rent roll should reconcile to it.
City inspection The Oct 2025 city inspection left 14 violations open, including smoke detectors, rotting or spalling exterior surfaces, electrical: what has been corrected since, and is any of it before the Department of Administrative Hearings or the circuit court?
Hot water · heat Residents reported no hot water or heat 8 times between Nov 2023 and Sep 2026: what was the cause each time, and what has been done to the hot-water plant or its risers since?

Also worth asking The city cited the facade in Oct 2025 (front and rear elevations: windows are boraded with plywood after…) and no later facade permit is on record: has the work been done, and who paid for it?