CHICAGO | 1620 N. LaSalle Drive (Old Town Canvas) | 391 FT | 36 FLOORS

[pullmanman]

Email from Old Town Friends for Responsible Development. Predictable gripes:

Old Town Friends

Dear Neighbors, We are shocked and disappointed that both the Alderman and Developer ignored the community’s wishes and are pushing through a project that is wrong for the character of Old Town. Old Town Friends for Responsible Development, Old Town Triangle Association, and the Old Town Merchants and Residents Association, three community organizations that opposed the plan, received a last-minute notice of a ‘compromise’ from the Alderman’s office. None of the community groups had input or were given the opportunity to counter.

This is NOT a compromise; these changes are breadcrumbs used to mislead and confuse the public. It’s clear the Alderman did not include the community in compromise discussions because the Alderman and Developer both know the community OPPOSES this project as it currently stands, including the upzoning of the area, and would never support this so-called compromise. Despite what you may read with percentages & reductions, please recognize that this compromise is only 1 story less than the original proposed building from 2023. In 2023, the building proposed was 395’ (36 stories); when the PD was submitted it became 480’ (44 stories); and today’s “compromise” landed at 379’ (37 stories). Again, this is not a compromise!

Old Town Friends will continue to fight this proposal & massive tower, and we hope you will join us. We cannot be silenced. We love our community and will not let irresponsible developers quell our efforts. To read Alderman Hopkins’ view of this project click here.

Best, Old Town Friends

[r18tdi]

Looks like the shortened proposal is also a fair bit wider to make up for the height chop. I generally prefer thinner high-rises for aesthetic reasons plus more light/air for the streetscape, but in this case I am all for Fern Hill making the tower as wide as possible to block the maximum number of NIMBY views:


GREC via Urbanize

[BuildThemTaller]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Looks like the shortened proposal is also a fair bit wider to make up for the height chop. I generally prefer thinner high-rises for aesthetic reasons plus more light/air for the streetscape, but in this case I am all for Fern Hill making the tower as wide as possible to block the maximum number of NIMBY views:


GREC via Urbanize

Imagine looking at these and still claiming that the tower is "out of character" with the neighborhood. NIMBYs live in an alternate reality where a shadow causes cancer or something like that.

[pullmanman]

Unit count decreased but total square footage seems similar? Much larger units on average than the initial proposal. This is from Alderman Hopkins FAQs on the project posted last night. He justifies it as supporting family sized units.

[Zapatan]

380' is still nice for the area. I hope they can go ahead and that the NIMBYs don't rain on the parade again. Of course they'll try.

[BVictor1]

1600, 1620, 1609-1641 & 1647 N. La Salle Dr.;
1601 N. Wells St.; and 130 & 200 W. North Ave.
(Lincoln Park, 2nd Ward)

A proposed amendment to and expansion of Business Planned Development No. 89 and Lakefront Protection Ordinance application, submitted by Old Town Triangle Partners I LLC, for the property generally located at 1600, 1620, 1609-1641 & 1647 North La Salle Drive; 1601 North Wells Street; and 130 & 200 West North Avenue. The applicant proposes to amend Planned Development No. 89 to establish four subareas and add a 379-foot-tall, mixed-use building with 349 dwelling units and ground-floor retail space to Subarea B. Subarea B improvements will also include 285 accessory vehicle parking spaces and three off-street loading spaces. Existing Subarea A improvements include a 3-story religious assembly building and two one-story retail buildings. Existing subarea C and D improvements include a 3-story commercial building and a 3-story single family home, for which no changes are proposed, respectively. The overall maximum FAR for the planned development will be 5.0.

[Jstange059]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Looks like the shortened proposal is also a fair bit wider to make up for the height chop. I generally prefer thinner high-rises for aesthetic reasons plus more light/air for the streetscape, but in this case I am all for Fern Hill making the tower as wide as possible to block the maximum number of NIMBY views:


GREC via Urbanize

Did they not make the tower taller but narrower like half a year ago to satisfy NIMBYs (Because it reduces size of shadow or something), and now they are making the tower shorter but wider to satisfy NIMBYs?
Why do we even try to satisfy NIMBYs in the first place, we all know that doing so is an impossible feat

Originally Posted by pullmanman

Email from Old Town Friends for Responsible Development. Predictable gripes:

Also, really, screw these guys. Are the homes of 350+ people/families really worth more than your "Neighborhood Character" (Especially when the tower is surrounded by so many similarly scaled towers!)

I'm so tired of Lincoln Park NIMBYs

[BVictor1]

Lol...

Old Town Friends

Dear Neighbors, We are shocked and disappointed that both the Alderman and Developer ignored the community’s wishes and are pushing through a project that is wrong for the character of Old Town. Old Town Friends for Responsible Development, Old Town Triangle Association, and the Old Town Merchants and Residents Association, three community organizations that opposed the plan, received a last-minute notice of a ‘compromise’ from the Alderman’s office. None of the community groups had input or were given the opportunity to counter.

This is NOT a compromise; these changes are breadcrumbs used to mislead and confuse the public. It’s clear the Alderman did not include the community in compromise discussions because the Alderman and Developer both know the community OPPOSES this project as it currently stands, including the upzoning of the area, and would never support this so-called compromise. Despite what you may read with percentages & reductions, please recognize that this compromise is only 1 story less than the original proposed building from 2023. In 2023, the building proposed was 395’ (36 stories); when the PD was submitted it became 480’ (44 stories); and today’s “compromise” landed at 379’ (37 stories). Again, this is not a compromise!

Old Town Friends will continue to fight this proposal & massive tower, and we hope you will join us. We cannot be silenced. We love our community and will not let irresponsible developers quell our efforts. To read Alderman Hopkins’ view of this project click here.

Best, Old Town Friends

Their dismay is my glory.

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

Lol...




Their dismay is my glory.

I normally don't wish for people to be eliminated from the gene pool but these imbeciles need to be permanently removed. Absolutely disgusting!

[twister244]

A bit off topic..... But do these people realize they are harming the neighborhood in the long run? If you run developers out of the area, then they will stop trying to build in this part of town. There are so many other parts of the city now that developers can easily put up new towers, etc.......

It's just such short-sided thinking.

[Lakeviewguy]

NIMBYs will never be appeased. The strategy is simple--delay, delay, delay until perhaps the market turns and kills the project organically. Let's hope that the economy stays stable and that Fern Hill is able to move forward with this. This project is going to eliminate both gas stations; add much needed residential units; and add to commercial vitality; and improve the walkability of the LaSalle-North intersection. Really, what is there not to like? As an aside, it's hard to believe that there is still an Amoco at Clark and Lasalle. (In the 1960s, there was a gas station on N. Michigan Ave.)

[r18tdi]

When all else fails the NIMBYs can always try to sue, like the mental midgets in Lincoln Park who wasted their money trying in vain to stop the Lincoln Common project.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

When all else fails the NIMBYs can always try to sue, like the mental midgets in Lincoln Park who wasted their money trying in vain to stop the Lincoln Common project.

I'm all for fools being separated from their money. Let them pay for lawyers if they want

[Lakeviewguy]

Originally Posted by left of center

I'm all for fools being separated from their money. Let them pay for lawyers if they want

I would be very surprised if they sue. It's a loser of a case, and I don't think any of these people are going to spot the cash needed.

[left of center]

Of course they wont. If they *really* cared as much as they claim, then they would put up the money to buy out the developer (likely at a very handsome price), then turn this into a park and pay the property taxes in perpetuity.

But they won't. Complaining is free, after all.

[dreamy-developer]

Originally Posted by left of center

Of course they wont. If they *really* cared as much as they claim, then they would put up the money to buy out the developer (likely at a very handsome price), then turn this into a park and pay the property taxes in perpetuity.

But they won't. Complaining is free, after all.

That is honestly 99% of nimby's motivation - people of all kind absolutely love to complain about anything and feel they're making a greater difference to their community, even when they deep down don't know of the real outcome. A majority of these people (once this is built) will forget about it, and move onto the next development they fear will "destroy" their neighborhood.

[BVictor1]

391 FT | 36 FLOORS

379 is to the roof and doesn't include the penthouse/elevator overrun.

The title height & floor count should be modified to reflect the changes.


February 2025 Plan Commission Presentation

https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city...025/1600_N_La_Salle_CPC_Presentation.pdf

[Zapatan]

Nice, still well into high-rise territory.

[left of center]

Tall and thin would have been so much better for the neighborhood than squat and fat. All NIMBYs are idiots, but these NIMBYs specifically are quite literally of sub human intelligence. Enjoy the shadows, turds!

[sentinel]

The developers know the game, they played the NIMBY crowd and idiot alderturd like a fiddle, and now have an approved highrise that is essentially what they initially proposed…and what was also most likely their original plan to begin with.