Former Lincoln Logs Factory to Become Self-Storage in Humboldt Park Neighborhood of Chicago

Real estate developer Martin Taradejna intends to convert a former Lincoln Logs factory in Chicago to self-storage. Taradejna acquired the property at 1750 N. Lawndale Ave. in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on June 2 for $2.2 million. The acquisition includes more than 1 acre, a 45,834-square-foot building and an attached 23,380-square-foot warehouse. The facility will comprise about 600 units and offer indoor and outdoor parking, according to the source. Expected to open early next year, it’ll be operated by self-storage real estate investment trust and third-party management firm CubeSmart.

The factory is the former home of Playskool Manufacturing Co., which used the plant to produce Lincoln Logs from the 1940s through the 1960s, the source reported. Taradejna and a business partner purchased the property from owner Don Glisovich through an entity called Platform II Lawndale LLC.

The property is at the west end of the Bloomingdale Trail, a 2.7-mile elevated park and trail that runs through the neighborhoods of Bucktown, Humboldt Park, Logan Square and Wicker Park. The trail was built on the unused portion of the Bloomingdale railroad and is part of a larger project known as The 606, a system of parks and access points, according to the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail website.

"Being on The 606 is an attractive thing and [also] having the YMCA as a neighbor. It's a nice dense population there, and not a lot of self-storage," Taradejna told the source.

Glisovich was the sole owner of the property, though he originally purchased it with other investors in 2015. He acquired it with the intent on turning it into a “destination” spot and initially envisioned a brewery, café, theater or other tenant at the site, according to the source.