The project site carries a layered history. Previously home to Hindman Auctions — a respected Chicago art and antique auction house — the nearly 36,000-square-foot property at the corner of W. Lake and N. Ada sat vacant before CEDARst acquired it in May 2025 for $6.5 million. The acquisition exemplifies the adaptive reuse and urban infill philosophy that has driven CEDARst’s Chicago development approach for more than a decade.
The SCB-designed building organizes its tower massing into four distinct volumes arranged in a pinwheel configuration, rising from a six-story podium clad in dark metal paneling. Residential liner units wrap the parking structure along the N. Ada Street elevation, screening vehicles from the street while maintaining an activated facade. Above the podium, glass curtainwall and architectural metal paneling with vertical fins compose the residential tower, reaching a maximum height of 364 feet.
CEDARst’s unit program at 1338 W. Lake Street spans the full range of household sizes: 121 studios and junior one-bedrooms, 76 one-bedrooms, 117 two-bedrooms, and 7 three-bedrooms. In compliance with Chicago’s affordable housing requirements, 65 of the 321 total units — approximately 20 percent — will be designated as income-restricted affordable housing.
This built-in affordability component reflects a deliberate commitment that Alex Samoylovich has embedded across the CEDARst portfolio: that market-rate development and economic inclusion are not mutually exclusive. The firm has consistently argued that large-scale, design-forward projects are most durable when they serve the full spectrum of a neighborhood’s residents — and that long-term neighborhood investment requires economic diversity to be meaningful.
Beyond the residential program, 1338 W. Lake Street will contribute to the Lake Street corridor’s commercial vitality through approximately 7,200 square feet of retail space fronting W. Lake Street. The residential lobby and leasing offices will address N. Ada Street, while service infrastructure and mechanical spaces are situated along the building’s alley. The development includes 164 structured parking spaces alongside 321 dedicated bicycle parking spaces — an unusually high bike-to-unit ratio reflective of CEDARst’s transit-oriented design priorities.
Resident amenities are distributed across three dedicated floors: the seventh, eighth, and thirty-first floors. The top amenity level features an outdoor deck and rooftop pool with views across the Near West Side and the greater Chicago skyline.
The Chicago Plan Commission’s endorsement is a critical threshold, but not the final regulatory step. CEDARst is seeking to rezone the 1338 W. Lake Street site from M2-3 to DX-10, with a 3.8 Floor Area Ratio bonus that enables the density required for the building’s program. The project will next appear before the Chicago City Council’s Committee on Zoning before advancing to a full City Council vote for final authorization.
This multi-step entitlement process is familiar terrain for CEDARst, which has navigated complex zoning approvals across multiple urban markets. The firm’s experience with large-scale urban infill positions it well to advance the project through the remaining approval stages.
The 1338 W. Lake Street project represents one node within a substantially larger development ecosystem. CEDARst Companies — co-founded by Alex Samoylovich alongside partners Will Murphy and Mark Heffron — now oversees a national portfolio exceeding 7,500 units and more than $4 billion in delivered and active developments, spanning Chicago, San Diego, Portland, Minneapolis, and Cleveland.
Samoylovich’s investment philosophy, shaped in part by his earlier career as an equity and options trader, emphasizes long-term neighborhood positioning over short-cycle opportunism. That discipline — combining capital markets rigor with architectural quality and operational depth — has animated CEDARst’s growth from a Chicago-focused developer into a nationally recognized multifamily platform.
The firm’s reach extends beyond development into technology and operations. Samoylovich is the Founder of Livly, a multifamily operating system that centralizes resident experience and property management for building owners across the industry. He is also the Founder and Executive Chairman of ProperXPM, a national residential property management platform built in partnership with TriSpan to consolidate regional operators under a scalable, technology-enabled service model.
“Chicago continues to demonstrate the depth and demand that justify large-scale, design-driven investment,” Samoylovich said of the Plan Commission vote. “1338 W. Lake Street represents our commitment to building communities that are architecturally significant, operationally durable, and economically inclusive.”
The Near West Side is among Chicago’s most active development corridors, buoyed by proximity to the West Loop, Fulton Market District, and improving transit access. The 1338 W. Lake Street site sits at a strategic inflection point between the neighborhood’s established commercial and residential fabric and its rapidly evolving western edge.
For Alex Samoylovich and CEDARst Companies, the project reflects a conviction that the Near West Side’s momentum is structural and durable, not cyclical. With Plan Commission approval secured and City Council review ahead, 1338 W. Lake Street is positioned to become one of the most significant new mixed-income residential developments on Chicago’s West Side in the coming years.
What is CEDARst Companies proposing at 1338 W. Lake Street in Chicago?
Who is Alex Samoylovich?
How many affordable housing units will 1338 W. Lake Street include?
How tall will the 1338 W. Lake Street tower be?
Which architecture firm designed 1338 W. Lake Street?
What is CEDARst Companies?
What is the next approval step for 1338 W. Lake Street after Plan Commission?
Following Chicago Plan Commission approval, CEDARst’s 1338 W. Lake Street project will advance to the City Council’s Committee on Zoning and then to the full Chicago City Council for final authorization. The project also requires a rezoning from M2-3 to DX-10, with a 3.8 Floor Area Ratio bonus to support the building’s density.
PropTech and AI are reshaping how multifamily teams lease, operate, maintain, and serve residents. The winners are not the teams with the most tools. They are the teams with the clearest operating model, the cleanest data flows, and the strongest governance controls.
