Posted Feb 4, 2025, 12:09 AM
|
|
Registered User
|
|
Join Date: May 2024
Location: Chicago
Posts: 216
|
|
^ Here's what I found via DevTools lol
2nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins supports the new proposal and will allow it to proceed to the Plan Commission Feb. 20. In a Jan. 24 newsletter to constituents, Hopkins announced he wouldn’t support the 500-unit plan in the face of neighborhood pushback over the project's size.
...
“Since 2021, we have led a collaborative, comprehensive community engagement process to reimagine parts of the North and LaSalle corridor. Throughout this process, we have held dozens of meetings with community leaders, organizations, members and residents to collect feedback which has informed every element of the plan we have today,” Fern Hill President Nick Anderson said in a statement.
Hopkins said the revised proposal won't be enough to get the strongest opponents of the project on board, but "for others, it will be." ** PRESS X TO DOUBT **
"I have actually found significant support from community leaders who recognize the need for economic development in Old Town," Hopkins told Crain's. "A reasonable compromise has to be forged, and it can be difficult and negotiations can be contentious, and I can tell you, these were."
Twenty percent of the units will still be affordably priced in the revised plans, Fern Hill said. The developer also reduced the number of proposed parking spaces to 333 from 450. The spots will serve building residents and employees and members of Moody Church.
The developer is funding proposed traffic mitigation measures, which aim to alleviate congestion and enhance pedestrian safety. Those changes include eliminating existing curb cuts, installing new curb extensions to reduce pedestrian crossing distance and time, installing a new Divvy bike-share station on Wells Street, putting in a new protected right turn lane from LaSalle Drive to North Avenue, adding a dedicated North Avenue bus stop lane, and demolishing the nearby BP and Shell gas stations.
“This proposal will breathe new life into the community by revitalizing long-vacant properties, brightening an otherwise dark and uninviting block, improving walkability in the corridor, closing the two area gas stations that have been riddled by violent crime, expanding affordable housing to individuals and families and increasing the customer base for local businesses who have been suffering from lost revenues,” Anderson said.
The cost of those improvements totals $1 million, Hopkins said, and further improvements in a later phase including a reconstruction of Clark Street will be funded by the Chicago Department of Transportation.
Fern Hill will also have three and a half years from the time the project is approved to have a lease in place for a grocery store to occupy the vacant Treasure Island building, according to a new, legally binding agreement, Hopkins said. He also noted that Walgreens has told his office the company plans to keep the store at that location open.
The cost of those improvements totals $1 million, Hopkins said, and further improvements in a later phase including a reconstruction of Clark Street will be funded by the Chicago Department of Transportation.
Fern Hill will also have three and a half years from the time the project is approved to have a lease in place for a grocery store to occupy the vacant Treasure Island building, according to a new, legally binding agreement, Hopkins said. He also noted that Walgreens has told his office the company plans to keep the store at that location open.
|
Prev
Linear Mode
