Gut Rehab Of Former Wilmette Masonic Temple Underway

WILMETTE, IL — The developer turning Wilmette's former Masonic Temple into an apartment building for seniors announced the units will be available for rent in the spring ahead of their anticipated completion next fall.

Dubbed "1010 On Central," the renovated four-story, 21,500-square-foot building will include 16 rental units, according to BK Development Group.

The apartments will range from 1,200 to 1,615 square feet, with rents starting at $3,000 to $4,000 a month, representatives of the developers said.

The stone structure at 1010 Central Ave. was built in 1925 as the Wilmette Masonic Lodge and was used by the Masons as a private club and for special events until the middle of 2019, according to village staff.

Property records show a corporate entity controlled by Glencoe developer Steve Blonsky purchased the building from the Masons in July for $1.5 million before taking out a $4 million mortgage on the property.

Blonsky was also involved with the development group behind 1121 Greenleaf, another centrally located luxury apartment building. The architect behind the redevelopment of 1010 Central Ave. is Chicago-based Filoramo Talsma Architecture, which has completed dozens of commercial and residential projects in Chicago.

The redevelopment calls for the entire former Masonic Temple to be gutted except for its shell, but its Art Deco facade is to remain mostly intact.

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The two- and three-bedroom apartments will feature exposed beams, private balconies, ceilings of up to 14 feet and wide plank wood flooring, according to the developer's representatives.

The project received unanimous approval from the Wilmette Village Board in August 2020.

At the time, then-Village President Bob Bielinski wished the developers luck and thanked for their interest in the community.

"Gentlemen, I hope the numbers work, so that you can move forward with this, because it really would be very exciting from a public policy point of view, not the least of which is preserving the character of the village and a beautiful building," Bielinski said.

"Hopefully you can restore it to its old glory," he said. "And we can have additional residents here who'll just be a short walk from restaurants and other entertainment in downtown Wilmette."

Prior to the vote, Trustee Gina Kennedy asked what criteria determined whether developers voluntarily include affordable housing in residential projects.

Blonsky said he had consulted with village staff about the possibility of making some of the units affordable.

"Running through the numbers," Blonsky said, "and the cost to bring this building back, kind of, to glory and then to execute our plan — it just financially was not going to be feasible in this situation."