What Could 1 Claremont Terrace Become?

All day, Chhaya

For nearly 20 years, an unfinished seven-story building at 1 Claremont Terrace in Elmhurst has stood empty.

The site has a long history. In 1840, Samuel Lord — co-founder of the fashion department store chain Lord & Taylor — purchased the property, and by the 1850s he had built homes for his daughters along what became Claremont Terrace. One of the historic Lord homes remained on the site into the early 2000s, but by then it had been abandoned. In 2006, the house was demolished and construction started on a large multifamily apartment building in its place.

But the new building was never completed. Work ultimately stopped with the building's frame completed but its interior was unfinished. For years, the unfinished structure has sat unused next to the Long Island Rail Road tracks. Community members have repeatedly raised concerns about the building's condition. It has become a symbol of garbage and neglect, while the owner has continued to hold it hostage in a city short on space and desperately in need of affordable housing. Today, the unfinished structure is still being marketed as a development opportunity.

At the festival, learn about the history of 1 Claremont Terrace and help imagine what comes next. What should this building be? Who should it serve? What does this neighborhood need to thrive? And what would it look like to turn a space that has been stuck for nearly two decades into part of a more affordable, resilient, and just future for Elmhurst?