[aaronrosen26]

So I went to a community meeting at the Evanston Public Library where Vermilion/SCB presented their planned office tower for Chicago/Davis, and the folks from Northlight Theater also presented their plans for a new theater building at Church/Oak.

In terms of parking at the office tower, they're only planning a single parking floor with ~40 spots, with the possibility of converting the floor to office/other usage should that become programmatically needed down the road. This is apparently becoming much more common as parking demand, especially in TOD zones, is dropping dramatically.

For the "required" drive through, they've kept the footprint inside of the structure, with the possibility of eliminating this down the road and returning the "cut-through" to the lobby/retail portion of the first floor. Drive through ATM's won't be a thing for too much longer seems to be the general consensus.

Public comments were mixed, with a bit of NIMBY bullshit about increased traffic and parking and the like (no "wind-tunnel" comments this round). But there were a number of voices, including my own, voicing support for increases to the tax base, downtown density, and to the number of transit/bike-friendly workplaces. My hunch is the Council will support this one, assuming the market holds up that long (especially after the Library Parking Lot debacle).

This tower also has a much better chance the the transitional/retirement expansion on the east side of Chicago Ave, which will face intense opposition from nearby residents over concerns over alley access, disrupted views, shadows, etc. I would be surprised if that one was approved as a Planned Development.

Everyone loved the Northlight proposal (except one lady asked if the new building would block the view out her third floor window). The new theater is basically the same size as the existing structures on Church Street that it is replacing. This is such a weird town.