^ well, i had written this one off because the approval that the project received from the city council back in march of 2009 was valid for only 5 years. meaning that if construction had not started on the project by march of 2014, the approval would be rescinded, and the developer would have to restart the whole approval process all over again. with absolutely no signs that the developer was gearing up to start construction any time soon, i had assumed this project would just die a quiet death like so many other proposals that fizzled out during the great recession.
the reason the 5 year window to get construction started is so important is because after this project was approved by a close vote on the city council, a huge NIMBY wave of outraged citizens voted out a handful of pro-development aldermen and replaced them with anti-development NIMBY-backed candidates in the next election cycle, thus altering the make-up of the city council.
the play by the developer to ask for a 3 year extension is clever, but it might be just as DOA as starting the approval process all over again now that the city council has taken on a much more anti-development attitude.
it will be interesting to see if anything comes of this.
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"Missing middle" housing can be a great middle ground for many middle class families.
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