At 105 South York Street in Elmhurst, Morningside Group preserved an iconic 1920s building. True to its original purpose, its anchor tenant, Fifth Third Bank, is joined on the ground floor by MiToodle Noodle and Café Amano, with multi-tenant offices in the reconfigured upper floors.

For Elmhurst’s leaders, saving the 40,000-square-foot building meant respecting the city’s past and preserving the look and feel of the commercial facades on the city’s primary downtown street. For Morningside Group, the project made good business sense. The adaptive reuse was cost-efficient and the result -- modern space and amenities behind a vintage façade in a walkable downtown location – tapped a hidden market among office tenants.

Home to noteworthy examples of 19th and 20th century architecture, the close-knit, stable community offers its residents a traditional, walkable downtown and well-planned cultural and recreational amenities. Downtown Chicago and all it offers are just seven stops away on the Metra line.

Over four years, Morningside built a relationship with the City of Elmhurst. The Morningside team interpreted the City’s visions and goals in context with consumer, demographic and market trends to bring Elmhurst new residential vitality, retail strength and a handsome, substantial streetscape anchoring the downtown corridor.

The public-private partnership between the city and Morningside resulted in a site plan that provides shared public parking, a public park and extension of the downtown streetscape elements. The resulting residential and commercial projects, taken as a whole, remain a benchmark for the company and the region.