EAST GARFIELD PARK — A philanthropist whose family is behind the Walmart empire is the new owner of a historical West Side shelter, which was saved from demolition after preservationists battled to have it named a Chicago landmark.
Samantha Walton bought the Wolfson building, 2678 W. Washington Blvd., last fall and plans to repurpose it into a community space, a member of the ownership team, the project’s PR rep and neighbors confirmed to Block Club Chicago.
Samantha Walton is married toLukas Walton, the billionaire grandson of Walmart’s founder Sam Walton.
Matt Berenberg, who is part of the ownership team and is responsible for overseeing design and construction, said Samantha Walton decided to buy the 132-year-old building after reading Block Club’s coverage about the previous owners planning to tear it down.
Samantha Walton could not be reached directly for comment.
What Happens After Buildings Are Torn Down In Chicago
Lukas Walton, once named Illinois’ richest man, is the founder and CEO of Chicago-based Builders Vision, which funds projects centered on environmental sustainability.The two were formerly were co-presidents of a subsidiary foundation, Builders Initiative, according to Crain’s. Samantha Walton now is listed as “director, co-chief officer, chairman” in foundation tax records.
The Walton Family Foundation,a separate entity for which Lukas Walton is a board member, is a founding sponsor of East Garfield Park business incubatorThe Hatchery, about a mile west of the Wolfson building. The foundation gave $4.2 million to the incubator’s LLC in 2018, according to its records.
After operating for decades as a shelter for women and single mothers, the Wolfson building was sold in 2022 by members of its namesake family to Landmark Living LLC, a property investment firm, property records show. Landmark Living then sold it in October and the property was put into a trust, according to Cook County records.
Ownership details in a trust are typically are kept private.
The three buildings that make up the property — the main house, a coach house and the dormitory — will be turned into community spaces, based on neighbors’ feedback, Berenberg said.
Preliminary plans include creating a multifunctional space to host technology, art and food programs, Berenberg told neighbors at a meeting Tuesday at the Revival Fellowship Church of God, 2810 W. Washington Blvd.
Restoring the building and preserving its history is part of Samantha Walton’s interest for this “personal passion project,” he said.
“She’s passionate about community. She’s passionate about Chicago. She’s a mom and she really wants to see this property contribute to the fabric of the community,” Berenberg said.
Neighbors have waited for months for updates on the building, they told Block Club.
Ramya Sadagopan, a Garfield Park resident of five years who lives near the Wolfson building, was at Tuesday’s meeting and said she’s “very excited” about the proposed plans.
“It looks like they really listened and captured” everything neighbors wanted, Sadagopan said.
Community Meetings, Then Months Of No News
The former maternal health center has a history of providing critical services to single mothers in the early 20th century, when help was scarcely given to them. The site includes a former dormitory for single mothers.
It was built in 1892 as a single-family home for Fred W. Morgan, a manufacturer of bicycle tires, according to Preservation Chicago. In 1949, the Washington Boulevard house became the headquarters of the Florence Crittenton Anchorage, a shelter for women and young girls that first opened in 1886.
The anchorage remained there until closing permanently in 1973, according to a Tribune article from that year. When it closed, the facility was the only state-licensed maternity home in the city that served girls 18 and under.
The building was then turned into the Living Center for Girls, which ran from 1977 until 1998, according to a presentation to the city’s landmark commission.
Preservation Chicago successfully organized to landmark it last year after the previous owner applied for a demolition permit.
Berenberg hosted three community meetings in the fall to hear from neighbors on what they would like to see happen with the building, residents told Block Club. Walton didn’t attend the meetings, nor did Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), whose ward includes the building, neighbors said.
Reached Wednesday, Burnett said his wife attended Tuesday’s meeting in his place. The alderman is aware of Walton’s involvement and said the ownership team has been proactive from the start in seeking neighbors’ input.
“They’ve been working on this for months. They’ve been meeting with the Garfield Park Community Council, having several meetings … matter of fact, what they did when they first was interested in it, they went to the community and they asked the community what they want,” Burnett said. “So most of the things that they’re trying to put into the building are things that the community want in the building.”
Jason Ely, who lives on the same block, said neighbors were initially excited to hear plans for the long-vacant property. At the last community meeting he attended, some neighbors suggested a youth-focused community center, Ely said.
That’s where he learned about the Waltons taking over as owners and their previous involvement with The Hatchery, he said.
“Those were things we were all excited about. We’d seen this person has invested in this community before,” Ely said.
Jasmin Graham, a longtime Garfield Park resident who also attended some of the community meetings, said the owners ensured “community would have a lot of input.” Berenberg did not share concrete plans at the time, but hinted at a community center, with neighbors sharing ideas for programs that could be hosted there, Graham said.
Neighbors suggested implementing components that “have to do with the greater good or will improve the health and lifestyle of everyone in the community,” Graham said.
“The life expectancy gap was brought up a lot,” she said. Black Chicagoans die 9 years before their white counterparts, according to city data.
Until this week, neighbors hadn’t heard any other updates since December. Some said the property managers fell behind on basic upkeep of the land and didn’t respond to messages from concerned neighbors. When Ely emailed Berenberg’s team asking them to clear the overgrown lawn, it was weeks before he got a response, he said.
A maintenance crew finally came to the property in late May, Ely said.
“They ended up replying to me saying, ‘Oh, it slipped through the cracks.’ Which, OK, thathappens,” Ely said. “It’s now seeing [if] this is going to become an issue moving forward or was it really kind of a one-time thing.”
What’s Next For The Building?
Early plans for the 132-year-old building call for turning it into “a community asset,” Berenberg told Block Club.
The main house could include a resource center, library, offices, art studios and yoga and wellness spaces, Trina Sandschafer, executive vice president and design principal at architecture firm Kahler Slater, told neighbors at Tuesday’s meeting.
The coach house could be turned into a coffee shop and the dormitory into a multifunctional event space, Sandschafer said.
Several neighbors raised concerns about traffic and pedestrian safety around the building, especially at the intersection of West Washington Boulevard and North Washtenaw Avenue, and asked owners to request the city install speed bumps, a traffic light or improved crosswalks. Berenberg said he would share their concerns with the city’s Department of Transportation and Burnett’s office.
One of the challenges with converting the existing property is “matching programming to the spaces we have,” Sandschafer said.
A walkway running from the front of the property on West Washington Boulevard to the back on West Maypole Avenue could be added. To alleviate neighbors’ concerns, additional on-site parking spots could be created, and owners are talking with local organizations about offering off-site parking when events take place, she said.
Reopening the property as a shelter is not an option being considered, based on neighbors’ feedback, but no final decision has been made, Berenberg said.
Owners plan on hosting several more community meetings to finalize plans. A program director and operational director were hired this week, Berenberg said.
“The future of this property is really safe for generations to come, which is an amazing thing for all the West Siders to have the opportunity to use this space,” he said.“We’re hoping to have the community involved, both from a programmatic perspective and from a construction perspective.”
Construction crews are working on the interior of the building to assess the scope of renovations, clean up debris and remove some of the construction elements added by the previous owners.
The building’s exterior facades are in “good condition” and will require some maintenance work and minor repairs, Berenberg said.
Only the dormitory and the main house qualified for landmark designation. However, owners plan to treat the coach house, located on the east side of the building, “with the same type of consideration they would treat all other buildings,” Berenberg said.
Several historic features in the main house, including original floors and woodwork, are in fairly good condition and could be restored and preserved, Berenberg said. The dormitory, built by renowned Chicago architects William Holibard and Martin Roche, will require full repairs given extensive damage caused by a fire in previous years. All buildings require new electric and plumbing, among other repairs, Berenberg said.
Owners expect to finalize plans for the property and apply for city permits, including a zoning change, by the end of this year. The building is currently zoned for residential use and will need to be changed to commercial use.
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks would have to approve preliminary plans, which include adding an elevator and a staircase structure between the main house and the dormitory, said attorney Katie Jahnke Dale of DLA Piper who is representing the owners. City Council and the Zoning Board of Appeals will need to approve zoning changes.
If all approvals are met, construction could start in early 2025 and could take from 12 to 16 months, Berenberg said.
The scope of renovations will require a “significant investment,” he said.
“Samantha will invest whatever it takes to complete the project,” Berenberg said. “We’re committed to taking this over the finish line.”
As plans for this property are refined, neighbors said they hope to see more investment in the neighborhood where vacant lots abound.
“There’s a lot that could happen in this neighborhood. The Wolfson building is just one of the many things that’s occurring right now,” Ely said.
Block Club’s Melody Mercado contributed reporting.
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