Yale Apartments
(photos by Lee Bey)
By urban renewal or decay, a lot of Englewood's eastern edge has vanished over the decades. But somehow, the old Yale Apartments at 6565 S. Yale hung on. Three cheers that it has.
Built in 1893 to take advantage of the Columbian Exposition--just a short ride east on the new elevated train over 63rd Street--the Yale was one of three Chicago apartment houses where the units ringed a glass-topped interior atrium. (The other two are the Brewster Apartments on the North Side and the Mecca, which was demo'd in the 1950s to build IIT's Crown Hall.)
It's a fine piece of Richardson Romanesque architecture designed by John T. Long, who's association with Louis Sullivan is evident in the building's detailing:
The building was a wreck as recently as the late 1990s. I toured the Yale with developer John Luce back then, not long after he acquired the building. He saw the vacant beauty while taking a shortcut home from a Sox game and bought it. The building was trash-filled and direlect in the worst way. We managed to get on the roof and it was so spongy, I figured we'd end up in the basement in no time. The city, particularly the Department of Housing rode to the rescue (along with historic tax credits because the building is listed on the National Register) and provided the cash to save this gem.
Today the Yale is senior citizens housing.
