Block 3 Lofts

Block 3 Lofts

Block 3 Lofts occupies one of downtown Rockford's oldest survivors. By 1860, East State Street from the railroad tracks to Second Street had filled with commercial buildings — Rockford's first true business district, built along the road between Belvidere and Galena. Almost none of it survives.

Block 3 does. The National Register describes the building at 324–330 East State as the lone remnant from that era that has not been substantially altered. It is one of only three pre-Civil War commercial buildings still standing in downtown Rockford, and it stands within the East Rockford Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1980.

Urban Equity Properties completed the loft conversion in 2015, creating eight residential lofts on the upper floors — including two-story units with massive ceiling height — with the original timber structure left exposed overhead. Three existing ground-floor retail spaces were restored as well.