Uptown Chicago Real Estate.
What it actually costs to own here, which buildings allow rentals, how the historic districts differ, and what changed when four Red Line stations reopened.
Uptown, Chicago (community area 3) · June 2026. Source: Zillow. Updated quarterly.
Most guides to Uptown recite the same five landmarks — the Green Mill, the Aragon, the Riviera, Montrose Beach and Little Vietnam — and stop. This one covers the things that actually decide whether buying here works out: what the buildings cost to own, which ones allow rentals, how the historic districts differ, and what changed when four Red Line stations reopened in July 2025.
I’m Uran Kabashi, a broker with Fulton Grace Realty. I’ve been in this neighborhood a long time — a founding member of Elephant Rebellion, a socially engaged artist collective based in Uptown, performing at Argyle Street Fest every year and organizing alongside the Chinese Mutual Aid Association and the Multicultural Youth Project. I came to Chicago from Kosovo as a refugee in 1999, and Uptown has been this city’s resettlement neighborhood for generations. I learned these blocks before I ever sold on them.
If you want to talk about a specific building rather than read about the neighborhood, that is what my Uptown realtor page is for.
Last updated August 2026.
Eight Things To Check
1 All-in monthly cost, not the assessment
2 Reserve funding and deferred work
3 The 22.1 disclosure, requested day one
4 Rental policy, from the declaration
5 Pet rules and parking reality
6 Condo or co-op, and FHA status
Buying a Condo in Uptown
58.5%
of Uptown housing units sit in buildings of twenty units or more. Buying here is really buying into an association, which is why its finances matter more in Uptown than almost anywhere else in Chicago.
44.9%
of the housing stock predates 1940. Vintage buildings need facade work, risers, elevators and roofs — six- and seven-figure projects that either come out of reserves or out of your pocket.
70.7%
of Uptown is renter-occupied. That shapes everything from which buildings allow rentals to who your buyer pool is when you eventually sell.
One honest note on the numbers
You will see wildly different Uptown figures across portals — $316,667, $375,000, $399,900 — depending on the source, the month, and whether the “Uptown” being measured is the actual community area or the 60640 ZIP code, which also contains Andersonville and part of Edgewater. Redfin’s Uptown page currently serves a stale cached snapshot to automated requests. The figures above are Zillow’s community-area numbers, dated, and refreshed quarterly. If a page quotes you a number with no date on it, that number is not worth much.
Rents, August 2026
| Median rent | Year over year | |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,358 | +1% |
| 1 bedroom | $1,850 | +8% |
| 2 bedroom | $2,710 | +10% |
| 3 bedroom | $3,795 | +12% |
Source: Zumper, August 2026.
Renting rather than buying? Uptown is 70.7% renter-occupied, so this is a rental market first. My guide to renting in Chicago covers what the move-in fee actually is, why October 1 matters, and what parking really does to your budget in this neighborhood.
What Uptown’s housing stock actually is
This is the part that explains everything else. From CMAP’s Uptown Community Data Snapshot (ACS 2020–2024 estimates):
| Total housing units | 36,195 |
| Owner-occupied | 29.3% |
| Renter-occupied | 70.7% |
| Units in buildings of 20+ units | 58.5% |
| Single-family detached | 3.9% |
| Built before 1940 | 44.9% |
| Median year built | 1948 |
| Households without a vehicle | 42.8% |
| Median household income | $70,067 |
| Population | 56,344 |
Read that again: nearly six in ten Uptown housing units are in buildings of twenty units or more, and nearly half the stock predates 1940. That is why buying in Uptown is really about buying into an association — and why the association’s finances matter more here than in almost any other Chicago neighborhood.
Thinking About a Specific Building?
Buying a condo in Uptown: what to actually check
Nobody has written this page for Uptown, which is strange, because it is the question the market is actually asking.
1. Compare the all-in monthly cost, not the assessment
Assessments in Uptown buildings range from roughly $290 to over $1,800 a month, and the range means nothing until you know what is included. Some real examples:
- Imperial Towers, 4250 N Marine Dr (1962, 862 units): roughly $401–$1,803, averaging around $471, including heat, water, doorman, cable and internet.
- Shoreline Park, 4950 N Marine Dr (1947, 512 units): roughly $388–$900, including heat, water, doorman, cable — and a garage space per unit.
- 5100 N Marine Dr (1970, 300 units): roughly $290–$742, averaging around $458, including water, insurance, doorman, cable and internet.
- 4300 N Marine Dr (1931, 90 units): roughly $863–$1,291, including heat, water, gas, doorman, cable and internet.
- The Pattington, 660–676 W Irving Park (1902, National Register): roughly $951–$1,769, including heat, water, gas, insurance, cable, internet and scavenger — with one to two garage spaces per unit.
A $471 assessment covering heat, cable, internet and a doorman is a very different number from a $471 assessment covering water. In vintage Uptown buildings heat is often the biggest single line item — many are on shared boiler systems where you cannot separate your usage.
Assessment ranges compiled from listing data as of August 2026. Verify current figures and what is included against the association’s own documents before relying on them.
2. Read the reserves before you fall in love
Half of Uptown’s stock is pre-1940. Vintage buildings need facade work, riser replacement, elevator modernization and roof work, and those are six- and seven-figure projects. A building with healthy reserves absorbs them. A building without healthy reserves passes them to owners as a special assessment.
This also affects your exit. Some lenders scrutinize association finances, and a building with thin reserves or high delinquency can narrow your buyer pool when you go to sell.
3. The 22.1 disclosure is the document that matters
Illinois requires the association to produce it, gives them ten business days, and caps the fee at $375. It has to disclose pending special assessments, litigation, reserve balances and the budget.
Ten business days is two full weeks. Request it the day you go under contract. Deals die because someone waited.
4. Rental policy is a yes-or-no question, and it is not in the listing
- The Boardwalk, 4343 N Clarendon (1973, 450 units): no stated rental cap — investor-friendly.
- Imperial Towers, 5100 N Marine, 4970 and 4980 N Marine, Sheridan Grande: rentals allowed.
- 4880 N Marine Dr (1950, 120 units): rentals prohibited outright.
If you might ever rent the unit — job relocation, a partner moving in, buying as an investment — confirm the current rental policy and any cap from the declaration, not from the MLS field. MLS rental flags are entered by whoever wrote the listing.
5. Pets rule units in and out
- 5100 N Marine Dr: no pets at all.
- The Waterford, 4170 N Marine Dr: cats only, dogs not permitted.
- 4300 N Marine Dr: 50-pound weight limit plus a limit on number.
- Imperial Towers, The Boardwalk: dogs and cats with number and size limits, sometimes with a deposit.
6. Parking is not a given, and it is not always included
- Shoreline Park includes one garage space per unit in the assessment.
- The Pattington has one to two garage spaces per unit.
- Sheridan Grande has an on-site garage, but spaces are sold separately.
- The Aquitania has no on-site parking — off-site leased only.
- 5040–5060 Marine Drive lists no parking at all.
In a neighborhood where 42.8% of households do not own a car, this may not matter to you. If you do own one, it changes your monthly cost materially.
7. Know whether you are buying a condo or a co-op
The Aquitania, 5000 N Marine Dr — the 1923 Classical Revival landmark on the National Register — has been a housing co-op since 1949. The assessment includes real estate taxes, the financing works differently, and the approval process is different. Uptown and Edgewater have real co-op inventory and almost nobody explains the distinction.
8. FHA approval
If you are using FHA financing, the building must be on HUD’s approved list. This is checkable at HUD’s condominium lookup, and it is worth checking before you tour rather than after you offer. Note that separately, since January 1, 2025, Illinois associations cannot block a sale simply because the buyer is using FHA financing.
The buildings
Uptown’s condo stock, corridor by corridor.
Marine Drive
| Building | Built | Units | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Waterford, 4170 N Marine | 1971 | ~257 | Indoor pool, steam room, sauna. Cats only. |
| Imperial Towers, 4250 N Marine | 1962 | 862 | Jr-Olympic pool, Japanese gardens, guest suites, 24hr doorman. Rentals allowed. |
| 4300 N Marine | 1931 | 90 | Vintage lakefront. 50 lb pet limit. |
| 4880 N Marine | 1950 | 120 | Rentals prohibited. |
| Shoreline Park, 4950 N Marine | 1947 | 512 | Garage space included. Roof deck, lake and skyline views. |
| 4970 / 4980 N Marine | 1953 / 1952 | 15 floors | Doorman, gym, roof deck. Rentals allowed. |
| The Aquitania, 5000 N Marine | 1923 | 82 | Co-op, not condo. National Register. No on-site parking. |
| 5040–5060 Marine | 1939 | 203 | No parking. |
| 5100 N Marine | 1970 | 300 | Heated pool, 24hr doorman. No pets. |
Clarendon and Buena Park
| Building | Built | Units | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Boardwalk, 4343 N Clarendon | 1973 | 450 | Pool, tennis courts, daycare, convenience store. No rental cap. |
| Eastwood by the Lake, 811 W Eastwood | 1912 | 80 | Architect John A. Nyden. The oldest known 20th-century residential hotel built in Chicago. |
| The Pattington, 660–676 W Irving Park | 1902 | ~72 | National Register, listed 1980. Private park, gas fireplaces, 700–2,530 sq ft units. |
Sheridan Road, in Uptown
| Building | Built | Units | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheridan Grande, 4848 N Sheridan | 2004 | 70 | The newest of the group. Parking sold separately. Pets and rentals allowed. |
A boundary note that matters. Uptown ends at Foster Ave. 5320, 5445 and 5601 N Sheridan, Park Tower (5415 N Sheridan) and Malibu East (6033 N Sheridan) are in Edgewater, not Uptown. A great deal of online content gets this wrong, and it matters — different community area, different attendance boundaries, different comparables.
Building details compiled from public listing and building records, August 2026. Unit counts, assessments and policies change — verify against association documents before relying on any of it.
The sub-neighborhoods
Uptown is not one market, and the landmark designations are where most write-ups get it wrong.
There are exactly three City of Chicago Landmark Districts in Uptown: Uptown Square, Hutchinson Street, and Dover Street. Sheridan Park, Buena Park and West Argyle Street are National Register districts only.
The difference is not academic. City Landmark status means exterior alterations require Commission on Chicago Landmarks permit review. National Register status alone does not restrict a private owner. If you are planning to replace windows or do masonry work, this is the first thing to check.
Buena Park
Montrose to Irving Park, Graceland Cemetery to Lake Shore Drive. Originally an upper-class suburb of spacious homes; apartment buildings arrived in the early 20th century without displacing its character. Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival alongside Prairie School and Classical Revival. National Register since 1984. The Hutchinson Street District inside it is a City Landmark District, holding a significant concentration of George W. Maher Prairie School houses — the John C. Scales House (1894), the W.H. Lake House (1904), the Claude Seymour House (1913).
Sheridan Park
Lawrence to Montrose, Clark to Broadway. Six-flats, courtyard buildings, single-family homes; architects including James Gamble Rogers and E.E. Roberts. National Register since 1985. The Dover Street District inside it — the 4500, 4600 and 4700 blocks of N Dover plus four N Beacon properties — is a City Landmark District, notable for large lots and 30 to 50 foot setbacks that are genuinely unusual in Chicago. Truman College anchors the area.
Margate Park
Sheridan Road to the lake, Foster to Lawrence. Tree-lined streets, historic mansions, terracotta-clad buildings and converted 1920s Jazz-Age hotels now trading as high-end condos and co-ops. Margate Park itself (4921 N Marine) has a fieldhouse, community gardens and the “Puptown” dog area.
Clarendon Park
Around the 12.64-acre Clarendon Community Center Park at 4501 N Clarendon. High-rises alongside vintage brick flats. The park has a fitness center, gym, two junior baseball fields, two softball fields, basketball, tennis, pickleball, bocce, a dog area, a community garden and a playground with interactive water play.
Argyle, or Asia on Argyle
Roughly Broadway to Sheridan, Ainslie to Winona. Platted as the suburb of “Argyle Park” in the 1880s, named for Argyll in Scotland, and annexed to Chicago in 1889. Once predominantly Jewish, transformed from the 1960s onward into a Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodian, Laotian and Thai commercial district. National Register since 2010, and Chicago’s first designated shared street.
Uptown Square
The entertainment core, a City Landmark District since December 2016, covering the Uptown Theatre (1925, Rapp & Rapp), the Riviera (1917, Rapp & Rapp), the Aragon Ballroom (1926) and the Green Mill (1914).
Transit: what changed in July 2025
Four Red Line stations serving Uptown were rebuilt from the ground up and reopened on July 20, 2025 — Lawrence, Argyle and Berwyn, after roughly four years of closure, joining Wilson which was rebuilt in 2017. All four are now fully ADA accessible, with elevators, escalators, wider platforms, better lighting and real-time arrival displays, on newly rebuilt elevated track. This was part of the $2 billion Red and Purple Line Modernization program.
Any neighborhood guide written before mid-2025 is describing a different neighborhood.
Still coming: CTA is developing ten blocks of space beneath the new tracks between Lawrence and Ardmore — a pedestrian trail, dog parks, a playground and a fitness area. Construction begins in 2026 and is expected to finish in 2027.
Wilson is also a Purple Line Express stop, one of only a handful south of Howard. Express runs weekdays 5:05–9:15am and 2:05–6:25pm.
Travel time, honestly stated
CTA’s published timetable lists Wilson as a timepoint but not the Loop stations, so a precise “X minutes to the Loop” figure is not publishable. What the schedule does show: Wilson to Clark/Division is 17 minutes, and Wilson to Roosevelt is 23 minutes. The Loop stations — Lake, Monroe, Jackson, Harrison — sit between those two. So roughly 18 to 22 minutes. Anyone quoting you a precise number is estimating.
Buses: the 36 Broadway, 78 Montrose, 81 Lawrence, 146 and 147 Lake Shore expresses, 148 Clarendon peak express, and 151 Sheridan. The 78 runs a seasonal extension to Montrose Beach.
Metra: Ravenswood station at 4800 N Ravenswood on the UP-N line, Fare Zone 2, ADA accessible — walkable from Sheridan Park. No parking at the station.
Scores: Walk Score 93, Transit Score 79, Bike Score 92. Uptown is the 13th most walkable neighborhood in Chicago.
Schools
An important correction first: CPS no longer publishes school ratings. The old SQRP levels — 1+, 1, 2+, 2, 3 — were discontinued and replaced by the Continuous Improvement and Data Transparency dashboards, which deliberately publish no school-level rating. Any page quoting you a current “Level 1+” is citing something that has not existed for years.
Two more corrections: Stockton Elementary closed in 2014 and merged into Courtenay, which now occupies the former Stockton building at 4420 N Beacon. Arai’s building at 900 W Wilson is now Uplift Community High School.
Elementary
| School | Address | Grades | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brennemann | 4251 N Clarendon Ave | PK–8 | 482 |
| Courtenay Language Arts Center | 4420 N Beacon St | PK–8 | ~250 |
| Goudy Technology Academy | 5120 N Winthrop Ave | PK–8 | 491 |
| McCutcheon | 4865 N Sheridan Rd | PK–8 | 326 |
| Peirce School of International Studies | 1423 W Bryn Mawr Ave | PK–8 | 1,116 |
Peirce — technically in Edgewater — has chronic absenteeism of 16%, well below both the state figure of 29.7% and the district’s 42.5%, which is a meaningful signal.
High school
| School | Address | Enrollment | Graduation rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senn | 5900 N Glenwood Ave | 1,571 | 87% |
| Amundsen | 5110 N Damen Ave | 1,507 | 91% |
| Uplift Community | 900 W Wilson Ave | 224 | 60–79% |
Senn is an IB World School, running both the IB Diploma Programme and the IB Middle Years Programme, with a selective IB admissions track alongside neighborhood enrollment. It ranks in the top 20% of Illinois public schools for “most improved.” Amundsen’s 91% graduation rate is above the state average of 87%.
Attendance boundaries do not follow neighborhood boundaries. Use the CPS School Locator for any specific address — I cannot tell you which high school a given building feeds without checking it.
Private
Nine private schools serve the 60640 ZIP, educating about 46% of its K–12 students. The largest is Lycée Français de Chicago at 1929 W Wilson (789 students, nursery through 12), plus Rogers Park Montessori, St. Thomas of Canterbury, the Southeast Asia Center and Chicago Friends School.
The lakefront, parks and what is actually here
Montrose Beach, 4400 N Lake Shore Dr — food concessions, kayak and volleyball rentals, showers, a non-motorized boat launch, an accessible beach walk and free beach wheelchairs. The 1930s WPA beach house by E.V. Buchsbaum, designed to look like a lake steamer, is still in use. Supervised swimming runs from the Friday before Memorial Day through Labor Day. The dog beach is at the northern end.
Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary — the “Magic Hedge” — with over 300 documented species across the sanctuary and the adjacent Montrose Beach Dunes Natural Area. Open dawn to dusk.
Graceland Cemetery, opened 1860 — cemetery and arboretum both, and where a remarkable number of Chicago’s architects designed memorials and are themselves buried.
Grocery: Target at Wilson Yard (4466 N Broadway, daily 8am–10pm, with CVS pharmacy, Starbucks, Target Optical and wine and spirits), Aldi accessible directly from the Wilson station’s Sunnyside entrance, and Jewel-Osco at 5343 N Broadway just north in Edgewater.
Argyle Night Market — Thursdays 5–9pm in summer, on Argyle between Kenmore and Sheridan, running annually since 2013 and drawing roughly 5,000 visitors a week. The Argyle Lunar New Year Parade in February is run by the Chinese Mutual Aid Association at 1016 W Argyle, which has provided immigrant and refugee services in Uptown for decades. I have organized alongside CMAA and performed at Argyle Street Fest every year with Elephant Rebellion — this corridor is the reason I know this neighborhood the way I do.
The entertainment district, honestly
The Uptown Theatre is closed. It has been vacant since December 1981. As of mid-2026 the restoration is estimated at roughly $200 million; the city has offered around $49 million in TIF, and the owner’s public position is that this is “simply insufficient” and that without more support “the theatre’s doors will never reopen.” The building is stable — the terra cotta, frescoes and coffered ceilings survive, though faded — but no construction has started. The theatre turned 100 in 2025.
If you are buying in Uptown partly on the theory that the Uptown Theatre’s restoration will lift the neighborhood, understand that this has been three years away for about fifteen years.
The other three venues are open and running. The Aragon Ballroom (1106 W Lawrence) is Live Nation-managed with a full 2026 calendar. The Riviera (4746 N Racine) is Jam Productions-run with events booked through May 2027. The Green Mill (4802 N Broadway) is open, and late-night jazz returned in 2026.
What is being built, and what closed
The largest negative in the neighborhood right now: Weiss Memorial Hospital is closed. An HVAC failure forced evacuation in June 2025, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement was revoked, and the facility locked its doors on August 8, 2025. In July 2026 the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board granted the owner a six-month extension through February 2027, with no conditions attached, despite outstanding staffing and infrastructure failures. Community pressure to reopen it is ongoing. Nobody writing about Uptown real estate mentions this, and buyers should know.
In the residential pipeline:
| Project | What | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Immaculata High School conversion, Irving Park & Marine | 196 units in the historic building | Approved, Phase 1 permits filed July 2026 |
| 4730–52 N Clark | Six-story, 95-unit rental, 19 affordable | Proposed July 2026 |
| 4725 N Clifton | Five-story mixed-use, retail + 40 units | Under construction |
| Sarah’s on Sunnyside | Seven-story supportive housing, 54 units | Planned |
| 4531 N Clark | Nine 3-bedroom condos plus retail | Proposed, community meeting August 2026 |
| 5041 N Broadway | Office above Sun Wah BBQ converting to apartments | Leasing 2027 |
Want the Read on a Specific Building?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Uptown a good place to live?
One of the most walkable in Chicago
What do assessments cost?
$290 to $1,800 a month
Is Uptown the same as Edgewater?
No — Uptown ends at Foster
Is Uptown Chicago a good place to live?
Uptown scores 93 for walkability, 79 for transit and 92 for biking, and it is the 13th most walkable neighborhood in Chicago. It has the lakefront, four newly rebuilt Red Line stations and one of the best food corridors in the city. The housing runs from six-flats and courtyard buildings in Sheridan Park to vintage lakefront high-rises and large single-family homes in Buena Park, so what it is like to live here depends a great deal on which part of it you are in. I am happy to walk you through the differences.
What is the median home price in Uptown?
The Zillow Home Value Index for Uptown was $344,261 as of June 30, 2026, up 3.9% year over year, with a median sale price of $316,667 as of May 31, 2026. Be careful with figures quoted for the 60640 ZIP code — that also includes Andersonville and part of Edgewater and runs higher.
How much are HOA assessments in Uptown?
Roughly $290 to $1,800 a month depending on the building, but the number is meaningless without knowing what it covers. Many Uptown vintage buildings include heat, water, cable, internet and a doorman; some include a parking space. Compare all-in monthly cost, not the assessment.
Are Uptown condos a good investment if I want to rent it out?
Some buildings allow rentals with no cap at all; at least one prohibits them outright. Confirm the current policy and any cap from the association’s declaration, not the MLS field, before you write an offer.
What is a 22.1 disclosure and when should I ask for it?
It is the Illinois condominium disclosure covering pending special assessments, litigation, reserves and the budget. The association has ten business days to produce it and can charge up to $375. Request it the day you go under contract — ten business days is two full weeks, and finding a problem late is how deals fall apart.
How long is the commute from Uptown to the Loop?
CTA’s schedule puts Wilson at 17 minutes to Clark/Division and 23 minutes to Roosevelt, which brackets the Loop stations in between — so roughly 18 to 22 minutes. Wilson is also a Purple Line Express stop on weekday peaks.
Which high school does Uptown feed?
Depending on the address, Senn, Amundsen or Uplift. Attendance boundaries do not follow neighborhood lines — check any specific address on the CPS School Locator.
Is the Uptown Theatre going to reopen?
Not soon. It has been vacant since 1981, the restoration is now estimated at about $200 million, and as of mid-2026 the city’s TIF offer and the owner’s requirements are far apart. No construction has begun.
Is Uptown the same as Edgewater?
No, and the boundary matters. Uptown ends at Foster Ave. Buildings north of Foster on Sheridan Road — including Park Tower and Malibu East — are Edgewater: different community area, different comparables, different attendance boundaries.
Other areas I work: Chicago North Side neighborhood guides.
Thinking About Uptown?
©2026 Uran Kabashi
Fulton Grace Realty | The Shino Group
1400 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago IL 60622
Call Me: 773-574-7291