Okay, I have no idea where the Chicago Under-12floors thread went, so I will post this here.
1/10/2007 10:00:00 PM Email this article • Print this article
New gateway for Bucktown?
Condo proposal moves forward, but commercial buildings still up in the air
By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER, Staff Writer
A proposed seven-story condominium on North Ave. near the Kennedy Expressway is moving forward, but the future is uncertain for two commercial buildings that are also part of the area's planned development.
In 2005, developer J. Paul Beitler told the Wicker Park Committee that the site at the 1500 block of North Ave. - where a vacant restaurant and empty lot now stand - would likely be the new site of a LaSalle National Bank facility, condominium building and Mercedes-Benz car dealership. The commercial buildings would be located just to the west of the Kennedy Expressway and the condominiums would sit just east of that on the south side of North Ave. Plans for the commercial ventures, however, have been put on hold after businesses backed out of the deal, according to 1st Ward Alderman Manny Flores.
Flores said the residential building that will contain about 30 condos just west of Bosworth Ave. is moving forward. But he assured that the other two buildings would be developed as commercial, largely due to neighbor's concerns about traffic congestion in the area.
"That concern is a valid concern, but these decisions are not made in a vacuum," Flores said, noting that he has held public meetings on the proposal to take input from neighbors. "I informed the residents publicly that we had been approached by other folks who wanted to amend the planned development for the purposes of building all residential, and you know what my answer to that was - no, no and no. We worked hard as a community to get this plan and we are going to get this plan."
Flores said that prior to the plans for the condos and commercial buildings, McDonald's proposed building a restaurant at the southeastern site. Neighbors battled the restaurant plan in court and ultimately prevailed.
"We fought hard to control the use of that property," Flores said. "I put in $10,000 of my own money fighting that."
He said Stillpoint Development, the managing member of the landowner Chigal 1550, LLC, is requesting an amendment to the planned development that would reduce the height of the building from eight stories to seven and allow for more unit.
State Rep. John Fritchey who serves as legal counsel to Stillpoint said the original planned development approved in 2005, allowed for a 93 foot tall building with 23 units. The new proposal is shorter-it's only 78 feet tall-but would contain 30 units and 30 parking spaces. The plan also calls for about 1,100 feet of retail space on the ground floor. Fritchey said he hopes to have the proposal before the Chicago Plan Commission in the next month or two. If approved, the amended plan will head to the city zoning committee and then the full City Council for approval.
"To have such visible land lay dormant is in nobody's interest," he said. "The one thing the community is unified in is they want to see progress. There's been a lot of time spent by the alderman and the neighborhood to come up with a vision and a plan."
The commercial buildings detailed in the planned development would not change under the proposed amendment from Chigal 1550, according to Flores.
The planned development allows the commercial building on the north side of north to stand 71 feet tall and contain 88 off-street parking spaces. The building on the south side of the street can stand 61 feet tall and contain 107 off-street parking spaces, according to the planned development.
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What is that?
Victor has a copy of the PD perhaps he can provide more info, but from the poor rendering that I saw, it looks fantastic. And it has 4 levels of retail toboot.
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