The president of CH Ventures, LLC, Cameel Halim has more than 40 years of experience in the Chicago real estate market. Cameel Halim has restored a number of buildings over the years, including the apartment building at 5820 N. Kenmore Avenue.
In the early 1980s, the apartment building at 5820 N. Kenmore Avenue was among a group of rundown buildings in the Uptown and Edgewater neighborhoods of Chicago. Although the entire block was known as an area to avoid, this building was in especially poor condition, and the building just two doors down was controlled by a gang.
Built in the 1920s, the buildings were known as common-corridor buildings, as the apartments on each floor shared a single corridor. For years, slumlords had failed to screen tenants, who often didn't stay long in the poorly maintained, small apartments.
Mr. Halim's approach to remedy the situation at 5820 N. Kenmore went beyond rehabilitation and focused on restoration. He restored the original woodwork and parquet floors and preserved the original bathroom fixtures. As a result of quality of the restoration, 90 percent of the building's 63 units were rented within just eight months of the start of the project.
