Chicago Apartments (Chalfonte Apartments)

The Chicago Apartments (also known as the Chalfonte Apartments) opened in 1909 and signified a shift in residential construction on Armour Boulevard from grand homes to high-end apartments and luxury hotels. A city-wide population boom and an influx of upwardly mobile middle-class professionals into Kansas City's Hyde Park and surrounding neighborhoods in the years before World War I led to a boom in multi-family residential development. During this era, apartments and luxury apartment-hotels offered modern conveniences and a host of amenities. The Chicago Apartments is believed to be the first apartment development on Armour Boulevard, and the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, serves as a reminder of that transition.

Erected in 1909, the Chicago Apartments (later Chalfonte Apartments) stood as possibly the first multi-family building constructed on Armour Boulevard. From the 1890s to the end of World War !, several wealthy residents built grand homes on Armour Boulevard, but the emergence of the Chalfonte Apartment proved to be a harbinger of changing conditions along the thoroughfare as single-family residences gave way to apartments and hotels of distinction during the 1920s and 1930s. 

The Chicago (Chalfonte) Apartment building sat ten blocks away from the mansion built by Kirkland B. Armour, the man for whom Armour Boulevard is named. The development of the thoroughfare in 1893 led to the construction of several mansions. However, the Chicago Apartments development signified a shift in the type of housing built on Armour Boulevard. In the years before and after World War I, a Kansas City population boom and an influx of upper-middle-class residents into Hyde Park and nearby neighborhoods led to a boom in apartments and luxury hotel construction.

Herman Streicher, a real estate investor and retail jewelry president, was the builder, owner, and manager of the Chicago Apartments. Streicher commissioned Matthew (Matt) O'Connell, a Kansas City architect, to design the building. The Chalfonte Apartment building is an excellent interpretation of the Classical Revival style, a popular design used on various structures during the early twentieth century. The style, ornate features, and building materials provide visual clues about the apartment's intended audience when it opened in 1909. The Chalfonte provided its tenants with luxuries, including modern conveniences and a host of amenities. The apartment building had a telephone, front door buzzer system, and an elevator (a rare inclusion for any building in 1909). Meanwhile, the individual units included such features as china closets, ice boxes, and built-in bookcases, and some had two baths. 

Hyde Park Neighborhood Association. "About Hyde Park: Kansas City's Historic Hyde Park." hydeparkkc.org. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://hydeparkkc.org/about-hyde-park/. 

Ryder, Elaine B. "Nomination Form: Chicago Apartments." National Register of Historic Places. archives.gov. 1979. https://catalog.archives.gov/OpaAPI/media/63819224/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MO/80002363.pdf.

Uguccioni, Ellen J and Sherry Piland. "Nomination Form: Armour Boulevard Multiple Resource Area." National Register of Historic Places. mostateparks.com. 1983. https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Armour%20Boulevard.pdf.