The fate of Old Town's Noble Horse Theater: Keep on keeping on at Illinois Horse Park

That building you see from the Brown Line. The Noble Horse Theater building at 1410 N Orleans in Old Town looks to be run down and closed for good. The web site and Facebook page make no mention of the state of the theater company. 

I passed the quirky Noble Horse Theater property a few weeks ago on showings in Old Town. The riding company had been considered the oldest in North America and the building dates back to 1871. The building and theater are in bad shape and shut down. No horses are to be found.  Eight or so horse drawn carriages remained in the stables that day.

I called the number for Noble Horse today and a gentleman picked up right away.  I believe it was owner Dan Sampson. He told me they are closed and looking to open up next spring at the Illinois Horse Park near Starved Rock State Park.  He said the carriage company and theater "were done" and the City had no interest in preserving the historical property. He had several opinions about doing business in Chicago... but you'll have to ask him about those yourself.

Coat of Arms line the wall on Sedgwick side near the Antique Coach and Carriage Company mailbox.

One thing is for sure.  It will be interesting to see what will be developed and who will develop the good sized parcel.  The west side of the 1400 block of North Orleans faces the train.  It is home to a large condo building and loft conversion units. Condo units have sold from $218,000 to $675,000 on the block over the last two years.

Pretty good Old Town location.

Fire, intrigue and FBI oh my! Noble Horse Theater update in Old Town

The Noble Horse Theater building 1410 N Orleans Street 60610 back in 2014 (Photo Eric Rojas, Broker, Kale Realty).

DNAInfo.com has an update today on the former Noble Horse property in Old Town.  The desirable location has had developer purchase offers and development plans for some time.  However, an arson investigation continues with the FBI offering a $10,000 reward for information.  It's a lucrative location for mixed use development that, until the fire, still had two small horse carriage companies leasing the property.

Google map image of the property at North Orleans Street and West Schiller Street (Google Maps)

Here are a few more photos and info about the property from September 2014.

Old Town Sales
11 single family homes have sold in Old Town in the last twelve months with a median price of $1,350,000. 137 attached units (condo, town house) sold in the last twelve months with a median price about $440,000 (excluding LaSalle high-rise units). Stats culled and reported from MREDLLC.com.

Former Old Town Noble Horse site to be developed into condos

The former entrance to Noble Horse Theater in Old Town (all photos Eric Rojas, Broker, Kale Realty)

A few years ago I walked around the site of the Noble Horse Theater building at 1410 N Orleans in Old Town. I called the theater owner and redevelopment looked eminent. I wondered who would gain control of the site and what would inevitably be developed.  My thought at the time was residential units would do well at the location.

Crain's reports today that LG Development will opt for condos over the original rental building plan.  I think this is a good move. The median price of a sold condo is about $450,000 in Old Town including mid and high-rise style buildings such as the one proposed for this site.

Carriages housed at the old property.

Old Town's former Noble Horse Theater property now luxury condo development

Two new construction condo buildings are under development at Orleans and Schiller in the Old Town neighborhood. All photos Eric Rojas, Broker, Kale Realty.

The lot has been cleared at 1400 N Orleans at West Schiller

We were in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago's Near North side last week showing condos.  One new and interesting development is on the former Noble Horse Theater and Stables property at 1400 block of North Orleans. The Equis development  (the website has a cool video driving down North Wells on a summer night) offers a more accessible condo building with smaller units starting in the $290s. A second tower offers luxury full floor units starting in the $800s. Curbed Chicago has a run down here of late last year.

I took photos of the closed down Noble Horse Theater and Stables in 2014 when there was little hope of saving the property.

Carriages for downtown rides were still stored on the property.

The Old Town towers will afford unobstructed downtown views from many of the units.

2017 Old Town condo sales

204 condos (attached units and town houses) closed in the Old Town footprint (North to Division and LaSalle to Larrabee ) with a median price of about $455,000.  If you exclude high-rise buildings (buildings over 50 units) the median price is $525,000.

The highest attached condo unit sale in 2017 was 1418 N LaSalle Street Unit B, Chicago IL 60610 sold for $1,330,000.  

Back in 2012 as things started to get cooking again 168 units closed for a median price of $315,000. 82 non-high-rise units closed for a median sales price of $390,000.