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5557 S Kostner Ave

West Elsdon, Chicago IL 60629 19152000280000 2 units · 1913

Nothing on record for this building in the last seven years, and our model puts it at a low risk of maintenance problems over the next 12 months. No public enforcement record to go on. Walk the building, ask the current tenants how repairs get handled, and get any promises in writing.

Building Violations (7y) vs. neighborhood
Records already on file, against a typical building in West Elsdon — not a forecast
At or below average
avg 0.6
0
FewerMore

This building has 0 building violations (7y), at or below the West Elsdon average of 0.6.

Building characteristics
Units2
Year built1913
Stories
Building area1,818 sq ft
Property class211
PIN (Cook County parcel)19152000280000
Ownership

Registered owner per Cook County Assessor records.

Owner name
Mailing address
5557 Kostner

Landlord portfolio

Other Chicago properties this owner holds, with a risk rating for each.

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Augrented Insights
Initial analysis

The two-unit residential building at 5557 S Kostner Ave in West Elsdon, owned by Balcar Trust, has been experiencing several maintenance and environmental issues over the past two years. The most pressing current concerns involve tree-related matters, with open requests for both tree debris clean-up and tree removal inspection as of June 2026, along with a tree planting request from April 2026. The property has also faced water management challenges, evidenced by a basement water complaint that has since been resolved. Street lighting infrastructure in the vicinity has been problematic, with two separate out-of-service street light complaints registered in November 2025, both of which have been closed, suggesting some resolution was achieved. While the building itself has a relatively low total of 12 service requests recorded over the past seven years, the concentration of recent tree-related issues and external lighting concerns indicates particular attention needed to the property's immediate environmental and infrastructural surroundings.

AI-generated · may contain errors · check the source data tables below

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Risk rating

How 5557 S Kostner 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

Lower risk — safer than most nearby

City inspectors rarely find violations here. Strong maintenance history and a clean complaint record.

Typical — about average for the neighborhood

Some past violations or complaints on record. Worth asking the landlord about any open issues before signing.

Higher risk — riskier than most nearby

Elevated violation and complaint history. City inspectors have found issues here before and are statistically likely to again.

Neighborhood percentile
91stpercentile

Out of 446 buildings in this neighborhood, 40 are predicted to be safer. The band is relative to this neighborhood, so a share of every neighborhood falls in each colour.

RiskiestSafest
Predicted 12-month outcome
80%
No code
violation
20%
Code violation
likely
Model explanation

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.

Location

Precise location is a proxy for area-level risk — some Chicago zip codes have systematically higher code-enforcement activity.

Lot size

Total lot square footage is a proxy for property scale.

Township: Lake

Located in Lake. The township captures local housing-market and code-enforcement patterns that affect all properties in the area.

12-Month risk forecast
Low failure risk 20%
Estimated probability of a code violation in the next 12 months.
Apartment reviews

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On the map

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The story over time

5557 S Kostner Ave event timeline

Building violations, environmental complaints and enforcement, permits, scofflaw listings, and 311 calls — most recent records in order.

2026
311 Request Jun 11
Water in Basement Complaint

See all 2 events

Full history back to 2023 — violations, complaints, permits, and 311 calls.

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Every record we have

Full data for 5557 S Kostner Ave apartments

Chicago public datasets for this parcel — building violations, permits, 311 calls, environmental complaints and enforcement, scofflaw listings, and vacant building registrations.

Side by side

How 5557 S Kostner Ave compares to the neighborhood

This building against comparable properties in West Elsdon. Toggle filters to narrow the peer group.

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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

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