This section of town could be Rockford’s next new hot spot. Here’s where and why

Jeff Kolkey

Rockford Register Star

ROCKFORD — South Main Street is on the verge of a redevelopment boom.

Investors believe the area’s historic Water Power District will be the city’s next cool place to live, radiating south from Rockford’s downtown. There is already nearly $160 million in play along the corridor and more investment is on the way. 

Standing on the fourth floor of his next big project at 700 S. Main St. — dubbed the Water Power Lofts — Urban Equity Properties’ Justin Fern says he is betting big on South Main.

“This is where the next swing is,” Fern said, pointing out the former industrial building’s 40-foot tall ceilings on the fifth floor and views of a pedestrian bridge crossing the Rock River near the Fordham Dam. “This is the next phase or next chapter in our downtown rehabilitation.”

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Industry crowded the banks of the Rock River in the late 1800s, harnessing water flowing from the river into Kent Creek and man-made channels to turn mills and operate machinery. With the advent of electricity service, proximity to the river became less important for industrial uses and, although industry and manufacturing remain there, many of those historic buildings were left vacant for years.

But where others see only blight, Fern and other developers are utilizing public incentives like historic tax credits and tax increment financing to seize opportunity.

“This is where we are going to make it happen because this Water Power District has some of the best building stock in the city,” Fern said. “Big floor plates — factory buildings that make great spaces.”

Teaming with the Illinois Department of Transportation, Rockford set the stage for a South Main Street rebirth with what after delays turned out to be a four-year, $19 million project to reconstruct a 1.6-mile stretch of the corridor.

It was frustrating for the business owners who struggled to survive the project finally completed in 2017. But the entire roadway was removed and replaced with new pavement, curbs, sidewalks, traffic signals, storm sewers and water lines from Cedar Street to Clifton Avenue.

Now, Urban Equity Properties is building downtown Rockford’s first new privately-owned multistory building in 25 years at 301 S. Main St. Nearby, First Midwest Group recently acquired the William Brown Lofts, 226 S. Main St., from William Charles and invested $1.2 million in upgrades.

Wisconsin-based Gorman & Co. turned the former 13-story Amerock factory into an $87.5 million, four-star hotel on the banks of the Rock River, bordering Davis Park. Gorman is teaming with Studio GWA to redevelop a pair of historic Cedar Street properties into 65 live-work loft apartments with one marketed for artists and another for professionals. Vacant lots next to the properties could be the site of new construction projects in the future.

They are located alongside an old city-owned Cedar Street train depot that some are hopeful will be the eventual location of a new passenger rail station taking travelers to and from Rockford and Chicago.

And Rockford is tapping $250,000 in capital improvement funding secured by state Sen. Steve Stadelman to build boat docks at Davis Park once all the bureaucratic approvals are in place possibly this summer. Officials are pursing other public improvements at Davis Park as well. 

Gorman Illinois Market President Ron Clewer said the success of projects on the west end of downtown, construction of the hotel and hope for a new train station are fueling new investment in the corridor. 

“Talk of a train station along with existing investments is really triggering investment on South Main,” Clewer said. 

Here is a closer look at some of the current and planned investments in the South Main corridor.

Water Power Lofts

Address: 700 S. Main St.

Estimated cost: $21 million

Description: Once known as the Rockford Brass Works building, Urban Equity Properties is converting a 130-year-old industrial complex into a residential loft apartment building called the Water Power Lofts. Plans are to provide 64 modern apartments that maintain the historic and industrial character of the building. There will be exposed poured concrete floors and ceilings along with original fluted concrete columns. It will feature on-site parking, tenant lounge and a top-floor fitness center. The building’s top floor will also house four two-bedroom apartments with views of the Rock River. Rent is expected to range between $1,200 and $1,800 a month. The project is expected to be done in fall 2023.

Embassy Suites by Hilton Rockford Riverfront

Address: 416 S. Main St.

Estimated cost: $87.5 million

Description: A former factory that once appeared destined for demolition was transformed by Wisconsin-based Gorman & Co. into a four-star hotel and conference center with stunning views of the Rock River and downtown Rockford. The facility opened in the midst of the pandemic in June 2020 and survived. It features 160 two-room suites, a pair of restaurants, a rooftop lounge, an indoor pool, and hot tub, a fitness center, a golf simulator, and more than 20,000 square feet of conference space. Hilton boasts that it is the largest hotel in Rockford or Winnebago County.

301

Address: 301 S. Main St.

Estimated cost: $7.2 million

Description: The first new multistory residential building to be constructed in downtown Rockford in decades, 301 is located at the former Hanley Furniture site. The five-story project is months from completion expected this summer. It will feature an accessible, marble-floored lobby, space to keep package deliveries safe and organized and 3,200-square-feet of retail space on the first floor. It will offer 30 one-bedroom apartments and three two-bedroom apartments with granite kitchen countertops, high-end cabinets and wide-plank hardwood floors. Tenants will have access to a rooftop deck and a fitness center. Rent will range from $1,195 on the ground floor to about $1,600 a month for two-bedroom units on the fourth floor. 

Cedar Street

Address: 502 and 642 Cedar St.

Estimated cost: $21 million

Description: Gorman & Co. has teamed with Studio GWA to redevelop a pair of historic buildings including the Shumway-Condon Seed Company building, 642 Cedar St. and the Bartlett-Mack building, 502 Cedar St. If all goes well, they could break ground on the project in early 2023. They plan convert the former warehouse buildings — located in what during Rockford’s industrial past was a distribution network along the railroad tracks — into 65 loft apartments. Plans are for a nearly $10 million conversion of the former Shumway-Condon building into 27 loft apartments with a full basement that would be marketed as artist live-work spaces. More than $11.2 million would be invested into the Bartlett-Mack building to create 38 loft apartments marketed to work-from-home professionals and entrepreneurs, making shared office space and conference rooms available to residents.

Barber-Colman

Address: 1300 Rock St.

Description: Rockford officials are hopeful that Milwaukee-based J. Jeffers and Company will come through with the $500,000 purchase and redevelop the sprawling 22-acre former Barber-Colman industrial campus on Rock Street off South Main Street. Under terms of a purchase agreement with the city, the company has until Dec. 1 to complete its due diligence to decide whether it will go forward with buying the property from the city. Officials have been impressed by investment the company has already made in market studies and community engagement. 

Jeff Kolkey: (815) 987-1374; jkolkey@rrstar.com; @jeffkolkey