1745 W Potomac Ave
This building has more problems than most buildings in this neighborhood. A handful of unresolved issues. Worth a careful walk-through and pointed questions.
This building has 0 building violations (7y), at or below the Wicker Park average of 1.1.
What's in the 1745 W Potomac Ave report
| Units | 4 |
|---|---|
| Year built | 1916 |
| Stories | — |
| Building area | 19,620 sq ft |
| Property class | 212 |
| PIN (Cook County parcel) | 17062330010000 |
Registered owner per Cook County Assessor records.
Landlord portfolio
Other Chicago properties this owner holds, with risk grades for each.
Unlock complete reportThe four-unit residential building at 1745 W Potomac Ave in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood, owned by Michael Mertz, has been in operation since 1916 and has experienced several notable events in the past seven years. Most significantly, there were multiple violations related to construction and building permits in early 2026, including two separate incidents of construction without proper permits in February and March, as well as a health department building violation in February. This pattern of permit-related issues continued with three public way inspection requests and a sanitation code violation in April and June 2026. Interestingly, despite the apparent construction activities taking place without permits, the building's records show only one building permit filed in the entire past seven-year period. The property has generated 22 service requests through the 311 system in total, with three of these requests being specific to the owner's responsibilities (25 total owner service requests). While the building's age and size are typical for the Wicker Park neighborhood, the concentration of recent code violations and permit issues in early 2026 stands out as the most significant pattern in this property’s recent history.
AI-generated · may contain errors · check the source data tables below
How 1745 W Potomac Ave's risk score is calculated
We trained a model on 7 years of Chicago code enforcement data — building violations, 311 complaint history, environmental enforcement, and owner track records. It estimates the probability that the City of Chicago will find a code violation at this address in the next 12 months. Lower % = safer.
What the score means for you
Grade A–B — Low risk
City inspectors rarely find violations here. Strong maintenance history and a clean complaint record.
Grade C — Moderate risk
Some past violations or complaints on record. Worth asking the landlord about any open issues before signing.
Grade D–F — High risk
Elevated violation and complaint history. City inspectors have found issues here before and are statistically likely to again.
Out of 1716 buildings in this neighborhood, 1338 are predicted to be safer.
violation
likely
What's driving this score
The data points that most influenced this building's risk rating — ranked by the weight the model placed on each one.
1745 W Potomac Ave apartment reviews
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1745 W Potomac Ave event timeline
Building violations, environmental complaints and enforcement, permits, scofflaw listings, and 311 calls — most recent records in order.
See all 5 events
Full history back to 2026 — violations, complaints, permits, and 311 calls.
Unlock complete timelineFull data for 1745 W Potomac Ave apartments
Chicago public datasets for this parcel — building violations, permits, 311 calls, environmental complaints and enforcement, scofflaw listings, and vacant building registrations.
What this is
Violations issued by the City of Chicago Department of Buildings against this parcel.
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What this is
Violations issued for failure to register or maintain a vacant or abandoned building.
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What this is
Building permits issued by the City of Chicago for new construction, alterations, and repairs at this parcel.
| Permit # | Issued | Status | Description |
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What this is
Chicago 311 service requests recorded at this parcel — maintenance complaints and quality-of-life requests.
| SR # | Created | Type | Department | Status |
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What this is
Environmental complaints filed about this property with the City of Chicago.
| Complaint # | Date | Type | Inspector | Resolution | Resolved |
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What this is
Formal environmental enforcement cases brought against this property.
| Case # | Date | Type | Violation | Disposition | Status | Fine |
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Cancel anytime · Data sourced from the City of Chicago Department of Buildings, Chicago 311, Cook County Assessor & the Chicago Data Portal