Adorned by pairs of terra cotta fish, the North Avenue Baths hosted a colorful cast of characters through its long and storied life -- borscht-sipping immigrants, deal-cutting politicians, law-defying prostitutes.

But by the early 1990s, windows in its white terra cotta facade were boarded up, its inside harbored crack addicts and the City of Chicago was in court, urging that it be demolished.

Where the city saw a hopeless eyesore, however, developers Steve Soble and Howard Natinsky spied a profitmaking opportunity.

In 1994, they bought the North Avenue Baths at 2039-45 W. North Ave. for $180,000. After proving to a Cook County Circuit Court judge that the building could be salvaged, they spent more than $1.5 million to convert the three-story structure into a restaurant, with 12 apartments above.

Today, Soble said, the property "is worth a lot more than what we put into it."

The transformation of the North Avenue Baths shows how even the most seemingly decrepit buildings can be saved -- as long as the numbers add up.

Built in 1922 at a cost of $175,000, the North Avenue Baths offered communal bathing facilities for the area's Russian and Ukrainian immigrants.