West Ridge/Rogers Park Development News

LA1 · November 13th, 2005, 05:46 AM

Loyola plans upgrade in Rogers Park area
$400 million project next to campus has residences, shops and restaurants

By Thomas A. Corfman
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 17, 2005

Loyola University is seeking proposals from developers for the first phase of a planned $400 million, mixed-use commercial project next to its lakefront campus.

The project is closely tied to a deal with the Daley administration, approved this week, for a $20.4 million public subsidy for the renovation of Mundelein Center, a 14-story Art Deco tower that was once the home of the women's college of the same name.

The development, which might take eight years to complete, could revitalize a lackluster stretch of Sheridan Road near the school's namesake CTA station. It also might spark a broader real estate revival in Rogers Park, where a boom has seemingly been predicted every other year for the last several years.

"It took a really hard dive in the late 1980s and early 1990s," said Chicago residential developer Charles Huzenis, president of Jameson Realty Group. "But Rogers Park is on its way back now because everything south of there is just so expensive."

To be called Loyola Station, the proposed project would total 700,000 square feet, including as many as 400 residential units and 40,000 square feet of space for shops and restaurants. The buildings would be located on 5.4 acres of land that the university started buying up decades ago, with long-range plans for an expansion of academic facilities.

But more efficient use of school buildings has put those needs even further on the horizon, said Wayne Magdziarz, Loyola's vice president of capital planning.

The turn toward commercial development not only is part of an effort to maximize the value of the school's real estate assets but also is aimed at reinvigorating an otherwise drab strip. Prospective college students increasingly pay close attention to factors such as campus surroundings and the quality of student housing, in addition to more traditional concerns such as academics and tuition.

One goal of Loyola's development is to create a "campus town that is inviting to our neighbors, but creates a sense of place for our students," Magdziarz said.

The university would not use any of the space in the new buildings except for parking, he said. But Loyola, which is being advised by Chicago real estate firm Newcastle Ltd., is seeking to retain ownership of the development sites.

Developers would lease the land from the university under long-term agreements called ground leases. That structure could reduce the value of the developments to the university. But it gives the school, which was founded in 1870, flexibility if its real estate needs change decades from now.

In the first stage university officials are seeking proposals for a site at 6474 N. Sheridan Rd., a former Denny's restaurant that was converted into a fine arts building in the early 1980s. The parcel, nearly three-quarters of an acre, could accommodate a building of at least 95,000 square feet under current zoning.

Rogers Park has lagged behind nearby neighborhoods such as Edgewater and Uptown during the city's residential housing boom. Rogers Park's huge supply of big apartment buildings and shortage of parking spaces limit development opportunities, Huzenis said.

And retail developers typically do not step in until residential development is well under way, said John Figlioli, a principal with Garrett Realty & Development Inc., which is co-developing a $40 million residential/retail project in Edgewater.

"Gentrification occurs, the yuppies move in, and all of a sudden you have Starbucks and Trader Joe's," he said.

Loyola's project is starting up after the city agency that approves tax-increment financing deals on Tuesday OKd a key public subsidy for a planned $85 million campus renovation.

Almost three-quarters of the money would be spent renovating the so-called Skyscraper Building at 1020 W. Sheridan Rd., which the university says was built in 1929 and is badly in need of repair. Mundelein College closed in 1991 and became part of Loyola.

The TIF grant will total $46 million and be paid out over 23 years.

The subsidy was pegged to the amount of property tax revenue to be produced by the university-owned land once it is developed, Magdziarz said

LA1 · November 13th, 2005, 05:51 AM

Mixed-Use Project Promises to be Devon ‘Landmark’
By Mark Ruda
Last updated: August 10, 2005 08:15am

CHICAGO-Not only will a $16-million mixed-use development at Devon and Rockwell avenues give the city about 180 additional parking spaces, it also is designed to camouflage the 214-space garage incorporated in the three-story building. However, the city is subsidizing 28% of the cost of the project, giving ASAT Inc. two parcels worth $915,000 for $1, and providing up to $3.6 million in tax increment financing.

The deal, endorsed Tuesday by the community development commission, has been in the works longer than the nearly three years it has taken to decide on ASAT Inc.’s plan over two from a competing developer. “The request for proposal has been pending for almost three years, but I’ve been working on this for almost 10 years,” says 50th Ward Alderman Bernard Stone. “It’s been needed in my community for God knows how long.”

Now used for 45 metered parking spaces serving the bustling Devon Avenue retail district, the northeast corner of Devon and Rockwell avenues will get 13,000 sf of ground-floor retail space facing a public plaza, 30 condominiums on the fifth and sixth floors, and 214 parking spaces on the second, third and fourth floors, according to ASAT Inc.’s plan. In addition, Chicago architect John Hanna has incorporated a glass and tile mural on the building’s side. “We had to figure out a way to hide a parking garage,” Hanna says.

Although ASAT Inc. is setting aside six units for buyers earning the median income or less, commission member Rafael Leon suggested the developer work with the city’s department of housing to make the units affordable to households earning 80% of the median income or less.

“The purpose of the condos are to make the project functional, and quite frankly, make it work on an economic basis,” Stone says. “I happen to believe it will be an architectural landmark.”

Broadway Bank has agreed to finance the project, says Bernard Citron, an attorney for the developer. He notes the project already received a plan commission endorsement in June 2004. Although tenants have not been signed pending tax increment financing approval as well as the land sale, Citron says there has been interest in the 13,000 sf. “It’s absolutely amazing, the low amount of vacancy on that street,” Citron says.

LA1 · November 13th, 2005, 05:53 AM

CITY REPORT
Seniors rental set for Peterson Avenue

By Jeanette Almada
Special to the Tribune
Published September 18, 2005

A 187-unit seniors building to go up in the West Ridge neighborhood will get financial assistance from the city.

Ravenswood Partners of Illinois LP, a development entity formed by G&A Construction and Development Inc. of Chicago, will build the project on a 49,674-square-foot site at 1818 W. Peterson Ave.

G&A is under contract to buy the site from a private owner, with closing Nov. 1, according to George Ardelian, president of G&A Construction.

G&A has built several seniors projects in the area, according to a Department of Planning and Development project manager who spoke to the Chicago Community Development Commission last week.

The commission approved $5.8 million in TIF (tax increment financing) assistance for the $34 million project.

Among its completed seniors projects, G&A has built a 99-unit senior housing project at 6142 N. California Ave., a mile west of the new development site. "We completed that building two years ago, and have managed it the whole time," Ardelian said. "In all of that time there have been no vacancies and we have a waiting list of 400 people. The demand for affordable seniors housing in that area is unbelievable."

The TIF subsidy for the project will come from the Clark/Ridge Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Project Area, the Planning Department staff told commissioners. City Council approval is still needed.

To be called G&A Senior Residence at Ravenswood, the 9-story building will have 187 rental units -- 16 studios, 155 1-bedrooms and 16 2-bedroom apartments, according to the city. The apartments range from 444 to 765 square feet and rents will range from $585 for studio apartments to $940 for the 2-bedrooms, Thomas Brantley, a G&A project manager, told commissioners.

Services offered to seniors who live in the building will include at-home health screening Brantley said.

The Chicago-based Harley Ellis architectural firm is designing the building.

The units will be leased to people who are at least 55 years old, and who earn up to 60 percent of the Chicago-area median income.

City assistance for the project is required because of the high cost of land compared to the low rents, the Planning Department staff told commissioners.

In additional to TIF assistance, the project will raise $9.7 million in equity from low-income housing tax credits that the developer will receive from the Chicago Department of Housing.

LA1 · November 13th, 2005, 05:54 AM

40 condos planned on Sheridan in Rogers Pk.

By Jeanette Almada
Special to the Tribune
Published July 17, 2005

A six-story building with 40 condominiums and ground-floor retail will replace a mostly vacant one-story commercial building near the Evanston border in Rogers Park.

The Chicago Plan Commission has approved Beachview Development Inc.'s project as a planned development and the demolition of the building at 7630-40 N. Sheridan Rd., to make way for the project.

Beachview Development, which consists of Chicago-based Twin Realty Group Inc., owns the development site, which is on the northwest corner of Rogers Avenue and Sheridan Road and a block west of Rogers Beach, according to Michael Land, a zoning and development staff member in the office of Ald. Joseph Moore (49th).

"We expect it will be very positive for the neighborhood, will substantially improve the area," Land said earlier this month. "We expect it to be quality housing and it will add a mix of people who can afford a $250,000-plus condo to the neighborhood, which will help to stimulate our Howard Street commercial district," Land said, adding that the developer cut the project to 6 stories from 13 as it went through community review.

"We are looking at a critical mass in this neighborhood. There is a tremendous amount of residential construction underway -- a condo conversion on the 7600 block of Greenview [Avenue], 33 townhouses going up at Howard and Ashland Avenue; condos at Howard and Clark Street and other conversions and new housing projects," Land said. "We are now getting interest from entrepreneurs who want to locate to our Howard Street commercial district."

Beachview Development will build a masonry building with 1,828 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, a Chicago Department of Planning and Development official told the Plan Commission last month. There will be two levels of underground parking working out to 1.6 spaces per residential unit.

The developer declined to comment on the project.

Residential units on the second through sixth floors will have one and two bedrooms and a range of 700 to 1,200 square feet, according the Planning Department official.

Four of the condos -- two one-bedroom units and two two-bedrooms -- will be set aside for sale as affordable, through the Chicago Department of Housing's CPAN program, the planning official told commissioners.

LA1 · November 13th, 2005, 06:00 AM

HOWARD STREET TO BE TRANSFORMED
BY TWO NEW HOUSING PROJECTS

Howard Street, for many years, a major commercial hub in Rogers Park, will be sporting a new look with the construction of two new housing developments slated for completion next year.

According to Mike Glasser, President of the Rogers Park Builders Group, the developments follow the official grand opening of the new $75 million Gateway shopping and transportation Centre at Howard and Clark Streets.

Scheduled to break ground in spring of 2005 is a 43-unit development, to be built by Single Site Solutions on the site of the former Lerner Newspaper building at Howard and Ashland.

According to Jennifer LaSota, President of Single Site Solutions, the development will consist of 10 condo units on Howard Street and 33 town houses on Ashland and Rogers, including four affordable units. Units are priced at $200,000 to $280,000 per condo and $300,000 to $375,000 for the townhouses.
(more)

add one—Howard

Also a first for the Rogers Park community, pending approval of various agencies, is a 40-unit development at 7640 N. Sheridan, a block north of Howard Street. According to Peter Tutera, President of Twin Realty Group, the developer, the 6-story project will include four units in the affordable range. The first floor, consisting of 2,700 square feet of space, will contain a minimart. Units will include one or two bedroom apartments and are priced to sell for $2l0,000 to $250,000 each.

###

LA1 · November 13th, 2005, 06:24 AM

Harbor bid scuttled as residents protest
Chicago Park District decides mid-meeting on Rogers Park issue

By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 21, 2005

Chicago Park District officials said Thursday they were dropping proposals for a harbor in Rogers Park.

The proposed harbor, near Loyola University, was one of five sites suggested by a marina consultant hired by the Park District to find new harbor locations to meet growing demands for boat slips.

The Park District made the decision halfway through a public meeting that packed 300 people into the gymnasium of the Loyola Park fieldhouse.

"If you don't stand up and oppose this, it's going to happen," shouted Jane Alexander, 71, who has lived a block from the lake in Rogers Park for 20 years.

Residents applauded criticisms of the harbor proposal that included statements it would snarl traffic along Sheridan Road, add to a parking crunch and make it the only harbor in Chicago in which residential property would abut a marina. Several people wore stickers that had the words "Loyola Marina" with a line going through it.

The Rogers Park Community Action Network had distributed leaflets through the neighborhood in recent days, pushing for a vocal turnout.

"People here have already spoken about a marina--we don't want this kind of development on our lakefront," said Francis Tobin, interim director of the network, which started the "Save Our Lakefront" campaign that in November led voters in 10 lakefront precincts to reject any landfill north of Hollywood Avenue. "Frankly, this is insulting that they're bringing this as an idea when we've already dealt with this."

Area activists fought off earlier attempts by the Evanston City Council to build a marina at the border to Rogers Park.

They organized the November referendum when an architectural exhibit last year laid out ideas for a new lakefront in Edgewater and Rogers Park, including extending Lake Shore Drive.

Michigan-based JJR LLC had proposed new harbors, including Navy Pier North and South and the former USX site at 87th Street. It will submit a study in January focusing on a few of the proposed harbors.

Friends of the Parks officials said Thursday the USX site, the Navy Pier locations and additions to DuSable Harbor should be looked at first.

In other news, only two companies responded to the Park District's request for bids to manage the city's nine existing harbors. Some interested bidders complained the Park District did not provide information in time for them to compete.

Robert Christoph, owner of Miami-based RCI Marine Inc., said after a Sept. 7 tour of the harbors he had asked for staffing information and line item expenses at each harbor. He received answers Friday, just three working days before the deadline Wednesday. He was unable to submit a bid.

Chicago Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said the agency "certainly attempted to answer every question."

Westrec Marina Management, which has run the harbors for 10 years, was one of the companies that submitted a bid.

The other bidder was first-timer Do Wright Marina. The local company submitted a bid to manage harbors at Jefferson Park and 59th Street

The Urban Politician · November 13th, 2005, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LA1

Mixed-Use Project Promises to be Devon ‘Landmark’
By Mark Ruda
Last updated: August 10, 2005 08:15am

CHICAGO-Not only will a $16-million mixed-use development at Devon and Rockwell avenues give the city about 180 additional parking spaces, it also is designed to camouflage the 214-space garage incorporated in the three-story building. However, the city is subsidizing 28% of the cost of the project, giving ASAT Inc. two parcels worth $915,000 for $1, and providing up to $3.6 million in tax increment financing.

The deal, endorsed Tuesday by the community development commission, has been in the works longer than the nearly three years it has taken to decide on ASAT Inc.’s plan over two from a competing developer. “The request for proposal has been pending for almost three years, but I’ve been working on this for almost 10 years,” says 50th Ward Alderman Bernard Stone. “It’s been needed in my community for God knows how long.”

Now used for 45 metered parking spaces serving the bustling Devon Avenue retail district, the northeast corner of Devon and Rockwell avenues will get 13,000 sf of ground-floor retail space facing a public plaza, 30 condominiums on the fifth and sixth floors, and 214 parking spaces on the second, third and fourth floors, according to ASAT Inc.’s plan. In addition, Chicago architect John Hanna has incorporated a glass and tile mural on the building’s side. “We had to figure out a way to hide a parking garage,” Hanna says.

Although ASAT Inc. is setting aside six units for buyers earning the median income or less, commission member Rafael Leon suggested the developer work with the city’s department of housing to make the units affordable to households earning 80% of the median income or less.

“The purpose of the condos are to make the project functional, and quite frankly, make it work on an economic basis,” Stone says. “I happen to believe it will be an architectural landmark.”

Broadway Bank has agreed to finance the project, says Bernard Citron, an attorney for the developer. He notes the project already received a plan commission endorsement in June 2004. Although tenants have not been signed pending tax increment financing approval as well as the land sale, Citron says there has been interest in the 13,000 sf. “It’s absolutely amazing, the low amount of vacancy on that street,” Citron says.

^Last time I was in Chicago I walked by the site and saw a rendering of this project there. It looks really nice, actually. If anyone happens to be in the area perhaps you can snap a photo

NWside · November 13th, 2005, 11:33 PM

Great Idea for a thread.... Here's a rendering of a 5 story development in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Clark, If anyone could post the image that would be great...
http://morsehellhole.blogspot.com/20...i-theatre.html

Also there's a Target being built on the site of a former strip mall on Peterson. From what I could tell it's a major improvement. The Target faces Peterson and from the look of it all parking is indoor, or hidden from view...

UrbanSophist · November 13th, 2005, 11:58 PM

Yeah, I really like these threads, LA1. (btw, what's with the name?

)

mohammed wong · November 14th, 2005, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NWside

Great Idea for a thread.... Here's a rendering of a 5 story development in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Clark, If anyone could post the image that would be great...
http://morsehellhole.blogspot.com/20...i-theatre.html

Also there's a Target being built on the site of a former strip mall on Peterson. From what I could tell it's a major improvement. The Target faces Peterson and from the look of it all parking is indoor, or hidden from view...

Yeah that is the monstrosity that they are proposing to replace the adelphi theater, as if there arent tons of parking lots or structurally unsound buildings that they could tear down to put that up on clark. They have to tear down a great old theater building, I sure hope that doesnt happen, and that building is totally uninspiring!

Azn_chi_boi · November 14th, 2005, 12:47 AM

I agree, combine many of the neighborhood together, or seprate the city into like 7 parts like Downtown, NorthWest, North Central, North Lake Shore
SouthWest, Far South, Southeast+southern Lake Shore,

LA1 · November 14th, 2005, 01:13 AM

I think what I can do is seperate the high development areas, then maybe Southwest side, Far South side, Far Northwest Side. I don't think clumping everything together is that good of a idea, it isnt that organized. Wired NY or other city websites do it by neighborhood mostly, not sections of the city.
There is too much going on to just lump everything into 3-4 threads.

wickedestcity · November 15th, 2005, 12:09 AM

theres a gated community being developed on kedzie just south of pratt next to the gas company(not to be confused with the one just compleated recently just east of kedzie on pratt) this mini communitie is set to host varying sized masions . i know the developer name but i still cant find any info about it on the net. is anyone familiar with this development and know any thing about it?

LA1 · November 15th, 2005, 01:25 AM

CHICAGO-The bulk of a local university’s $85-million redevelopment project will be spent at a building that once was the tallest in the city. The 14-story Mundelein Center building is not located Downtown, but rather nearly eight miles north at 1012-28 W. Sheridan Rd. in the Rogers Park community.

Loyola University could receive up to $20.4 million in tax increment financing for the entire project, which will include work on three residence halls and streetscapes. However, more than $62 million is budgeted for repairing the 76-year-old Mundelein Center, which is on the National Register of Historic Buildings, where 25% of the space is unusable because of its disrepair, says Michelle Dewlen of the department of planning and development.

The tax increment financing proposal, endorsed Tuesday by the community development commission, calls for the university to front-fund the entire project, with reimbursements from the city coming on a “pay as you go” basis, assuming university-owned properties are generating revenue. In addition to its own fund-raising, university officials are considering historic tax credits, says vice president of capital planning Wayne Magdziarz.

To get the $20.4 million in tax increment financing, the university agreed to have the Mundelein Center designated a Chicago landmark, which will give the city additional oversight over changes to its façade. In addition, the university agreed to an approval process that requires community, department of planning and development as well as city council involvement as redevelopment of the lakefront campus continues.

“We’re still in somewhat of a buying mode for strategic properties around our campus,” Magdziarz says. With 15,000 students enrolled at the lakefront campus, the space there is only one-third what is needed for a student body that size, he adds.

When work is completed in 2009, the university plans to move its performing and fine arts programs to Mundelein Center. The building will get new elevator, heating, ventilation and air conditioning as well as electrical systems during its three-year renovation. While “green roofs” will be installed, they will replace portions that already are leaking. In addition, work is needed on the foundation, and the building will be made handicapped accessible.

“This has long been a building, and a project, that has been out there, and one that we recognize is important not only to the university but the community,” Magdziarz says

LA1 · November 27th, 2005, 05:32 AM

Im going to make this seperate, since this area seems to be booming.
Budlong Woods/Peterson Park/Pulaski Park

5588 N. Lincoln

5924 N. Lincoln

5978 N. Lincoln

5321 N. Lincoln

UrbanSophist · November 27th, 2005, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LA1

5978 N. Lincoln

I saw this for the first time last summer and was very pleased. It's a very distinguished look, I think.

edsg25 · December 17th, 2005, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanSophist

I saw this for the first time last summer and was very pleased. It's a very distinguished look, I think.

I think it is criminal that the city didn't turn the hot sheet, charge by the hour motel strip on Lincoln Avenue into a landmark district. How many of these fine, old institutions had a "Bill Clinton slept here" sign in some of its rooms?

wickedestcity · December 16th, 2005, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wickedestcity

theres a gated community being developed on kedzie just south of pratt next to the gas company(not to be confused with the one just compleated recently just east of kedzie on pratt) this mini communitie is set to host varying sized masions . i know the developer name but i still cant find any info about it on the net. is anyone familiar with this development and know any thing about it?

ok i found an add for this development. cheack out this suburban type of bull shit there filling this entire gated comunity with.this shit doesent belong in the city!

ThirdCoast312 · December 17th, 2005, 03:49 AM

in that area the houses are already like that anyways. it's practically like the suburbs over there on east of the river from Norhside Prep. This is no major loss.

LA1 · December 17th, 2005, 06:51 AM

I agree. Its almost in the suburbs.

November 13th, 2005, 05:46 AM	#1
LA1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 834	West Ridge/Rogers Park Development News Loyola plans upgrade in Rogers Park area $400 million project next to campus has residences, shops and restaurants By Thomas A. Corfman Tribune staff reporter Published September 17, 2005 Loyola University is seeking proposals from developers for the first phase of a planned $400 million, mixed-use commercial project next to its lakefront campus. The project is closely tied to a deal with the Daley administration, approved this week, for a $20.4 million public subsidy for the renovation of Mundelein Center, a 14-story Art Deco tower that was once the home of the women's college of the same name. The development, which might take eight years to complete, could revitalize a lackluster stretch of Sheridan Road near the school's namesake CTA station. It also might spark a broader real estate revival in Rogers Park, where a boom has seemingly been predicted every other year for the last several years. "It took a really hard dive in the late 1980s and early 1990s," said Chicago residential developer Charles Huzenis, president of Jameson Realty Group. "But Rogers Park is on its way back now because everything south of there is just so expensive." To be called Loyola Station, the proposed project would total 700,000 square feet, including as many as 400 residential units and 40,000 square feet of space for shops and restaurants. The buildings would be located on 5.4 acres of land that the university started buying up decades ago, with long-range plans for an expansion of academic facilities. But more efficient use of school buildings has put those needs even further on the horizon, said Wayne Magdziarz, Loyola's vice president of capital planning. The turn toward commercial development not only is part of an effort to maximize the value of the school's real estate assets but also is aimed at reinvigorating an otherwise drab strip. Prospective college students increasingly pay close attention to factors such as campus surroundings and the quality of student housing, in addition to more traditional concerns such as academics and tuition. One goal of Loyola's development is to create a "campus town that is inviting to our neighbors, but creates a sense of place for our students," Magdziarz said. The university would not use any of the space in the new buildings except for parking, he said. But Loyola, which is being advised by Chicago real estate firm Newcastle Ltd., is seeking to retain ownership of the development sites. Developers would lease the land from the university under long-term agreements called ground leases. That structure could reduce the value of the developments to the university. But it gives the school, which was founded in 1870, flexibility if its real estate needs change decades from now. In the first stage university officials are seeking proposals for a site at 6474 N. Sheridan Rd., a former Denny's restaurant that was converted into a fine arts building in the early 1980s. The parcel, nearly three-quarters of an acre, could accommodate a building of at least 95,000 square feet under current zoning. Rogers Park has lagged behind nearby neighborhoods such as Edgewater and Uptown during the city's residential housing boom. Rogers Park's huge supply of big apartment buildings and shortage of parking spaces limit development opportunities, Huzenis said. And retail developers typically do not step in until residential development is well under way, said John Figlioli, a principal with Garrett Realty & Development Inc., which is co-developing a $40 million residential/retail project in Edgewater. "Gentrification occurs, the yuppies move in, and all of a sudden you have Starbucks and Trader Joe's," he said. Loyola's project is starting up after the city agency that approves tax-increment financing deals on Tuesday OKd a key public subsidy for a planned $85 million campus renovation. Almost three-quarters of the money would be spent renovating the so-called Skyscraper Building at 1020 W. Sheridan Rd., which the university says was built in 1929 and is badly in need of repair. Mundelein College closed in 1991 and became part of Loyola. The TIF grant will total $46 million and be paid out over 23 years. The subsidy was pegged to the amount of property tax revenue to be produced by the university-owned land once it is developed, Magdziarz said

November 14th, 2005, 12:47 AM	#11
Azn_chi_boi ......................... Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bridgeport + Chinatown, Chicago Posts: 4,278	I agree, combine many of the neighborhood together, or seprate the city into like 7 parts like Downtown, NorthWest, North Central, North Lake Shore SouthWest, Far South, Southeast+southern Lake Shore, __________________ █ █

November 27th, 2005, 05:32 AM	#15
LA1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 834	Im going to make this seperate, since this area seems to be booming. Budlong Woods/Peterson Park/Pulaski Park 5588 N. Lincoln 5924 N. Lincoln 5978 N. Lincoln 5321 N. Lincoln Last edited by LA1; January 10th, 2006 at 06:31 AM.

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November 13th, 2005, 05:51 AM	#2
LA1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 834	Mixed-Use Project Promises to be Devon ‘Landmark’ By Mark Ruda Last updated: August 10, 2005 08:15am CHICAGO-Not only will a $16-million mixed-use development at Devon and Rockwell avenues give the city about 180 additional parking spaces, it also is designed to camouflage the 214-space garage incorporated in the three-story building. However, the city is subsidizing 28% of the cost of the project, giving ASAT Inc. two parcels worth $915,000 for $1, and providing up to $3.6 million in tax increment financing. The deal, endorsed Tuesday by the community development commission, has been in the works longer than the nearly three years it has taken to decide on ASAT Inc.’s plan over two from a competing developer. “The request for proposal has been pending for almost three years, but I’ve been working on this for almost 10 years,” says 50th Ward Alderman Bernard Stone. “It’s been needed in my community for God knows how long.” Now used for 45 metered parking spaces serving the bustling Devon Avenue retail district, the northeast corner of Devon and Rockwell avenues will get 13,000 sf of ground-floor retail space facing a public plaza, 30 condominiums on the fifth and sixth floors, and 214 parking spaces on the second, third and fourth floors, according to ASAT Inc.’s plan. In addition, Chicago architect John Hanna has incorporated a glass and tile mural on the building’s side. “We had to figure out a way to hide a parking garage,” Hanna says. Although ASAT Inc. is setting aside six units for buyers earning the median income or less, commission member Rafael Leon suggested the developer work with the city’s department of housing to make the units affordable to households earning 80% of the median income or less. “The purpose of the condos are to make the project functional, and quite frankly, make it work on an economic basis,” Stone says. “I happen to believe it will be an architectural landmark.” Broadway Bank has agreed to finance the project, says Bernard Citron, an attorney for the developer. He notes the project already received a plan commission endorsement in June 2004. Although tenants have not been signed pending tax increment financing approval as well as the land sale, Citron says there has been interest in the 13,000 sf. “It’s absolutely amazing, the low amount of vacancy on that street,” Citron says.

November 13th, 2005, 05:53 AM	#3
LA1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 834	CITY REPORT Seniors rental set for Peterson Avenue By Jeanette Almada Special to the Tribune Published September 18, 2005 A 187-unit seniors building to go up in the West Ridge neighborhood will get financial assistance from the city. Ravenswood Partners of Illinois LP, a development entity formed by G&A Construction and Development Inc. of Chicago, will build the project on a 49,674-square-foot site at 1818 W. Peterson Ave. G&A is under contract to buy the site from a private owner, with closing Nov. 1, according to George Ardelian, president of G&A Construction. G&A has built several seniors projects in the area, according to a Department of Planning and Development project manager who spoke to the Chicago Community Development Commission last week. The commission approved $5.8 million in TIF (tax increment financing) assistance for the $34 million project. Among its completed seniors projects, G&A has built a 99-unit senior housing project at 6142 N. California Ave., a mile west of the new development site. "We completed that building two years ago, and have managed it the whole time," Ardelian said. "In all of that time there have been no vacancies and we have a waiting list of 400 people. The demand for affordable seniors housing in that area is unbelievable." The TIF subsidy for the project will come from the Clark/Ridge Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Project Area, the Planning Department staff told commissioners. City Council approval is still needed. To be called G&A Senior Residence at Ravenswood, the 9-story building will have 187 rental units -- 16 studios, 155 1-bedrooms and 16 2-bedroom apartments, according to the city. The apartments range from 444 to 765 square feet and rents will range from $585 for studio apartments to $940 for the 2-bedrooms, Thomas Brantley, a G&A project manager, told commissioners. Services offered to seniors who live in the building will include at-home health screening Brantley said. The Chicago-based Harley Ellis architectural firm is designing the building. The units will be leased to people who are at least 55 years old, and who earn up to 60 percent of the Chicago-area median income. City assistance for the project is required because of the high cost of land compared to the low rents, the Planning Department staff told commissioners. In additional to TIF assistance, the project will raise $9.7 million in equity from low-income housing tax credits that the developer will receive from the Chicago Department of Housing.

November 13th, 2005, 05:54 AM	#4
LA1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 834	40 condos planned on Sheridan in Rogers Pk. By Jeanette Almada Special to the Tribune Published July 17, 2005 A six-story building with 40 condominiums and ground-floor retail will replace a mostly vacant one-story commercial building near the Evanston border in Rogers Park. The Chicago Plan Commission has approved Beachview Development Inc.'s project as a planned development and the demolition of the building at 7630-40 N. Sheridan Rd., to make way for the project. Beachview Development, which consists of Chicago-based Twin Realty Group Inc., owns the development site, which is on the northwest corner of Rogers Avenue and Sheridan Road and a block west of Rogers Beach, according to Michael Land, a zoning and development staff member in the office of Ald. Joseph Moore (49th). "We expect it will be very positive for the neighborhood, will substantially improve the area," Land said earlier this month. "We expect it to be quality housing and it will add a mix of people who can afford a $250,000-plus condo to the neighborhood, which will help to stimulate our Howard Street commercial district," Land said, adding that the developer cut the project to 6 stories from 13 as it went through community review. "We are looking at a critical mass in this neighborhood. There is a tremendous amount of residential construction underway -- a condo conversion on the 7600 block of Greenview [Avenue], 33 townhouses going up at Howard and Ashland Avenue; condos at Howard and Clark Street and other conversions and new housing projects," Land said. "We are now getting interest from entrepreneurs who want to locate to our Howard Street commercial district." Beachview Development will build a masonry building with 1,828 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, a Chicago Department of Planning and Development official told the Plan Commission last month. There will be two levels of underground parking working out to 1.6 spaces per residential unit. The developer declined to comment on the project. Residential units on the second through sixth floors will have one and two bedrooms and a range of 700 to 1,200 square feet, according the Planning Department official. Four of the condos -- two one-bedroom units and two two-bedrooms -- will be set aside for sale as affordable, through the Chicago Department of Housing's CPAN program, the planning official told commissioners.

November 13th, 2005, 06:00 AM	#5
LA1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 834	HOWARD STREET TO BE TRANSFORMED BY TWO NEW HOUSING PROJECTS Howard Street, for many years, a major commercial hub in Rogers Park, will be sporting a new look with the construction of two new housing developments slated for completion next year. According to Mike Glasser, President of the Rogers Park Builders Group, the developments follow the official grand opening of the new $75 million Gateway shopping and transportation Centre at Howard and Clark Streets. Scheduled to break ground in spring of 2005 is a 43-unit development, to be built by Single Site Solutions on the site of the former Lerner Newspaper building at Howard and Ashland. According to Jennifer LaSota, President of Single Site Solutions, the development will consist of 10 condo units on Howard Street and 33 town houses on Ashland and Rogers, including four affordable units. Units are priced at $200,000 to $280,000 per condo and $300,000 to $375,000 for the townhouses. (more) add one—Howard Also a first for the Rogers Park community, pending approval of various agencies, is a 40-unit development at 7640 N. Sheridan, a block north of Howard Street. According to Peter Tutera, President of Twin Realty Group, the developer, the 6-story project will include four units in the affordable range. The first floor, consisting of 2,700 square feet of space, will contain a minimart. Units will include one or two bedroom apartments and are priced to sell for $2l0,000 to $250,000 each. ###

November 13th, 2005, 06:24 AM	#6
LA1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 834	Harbor bid scuttled as residents protest Chicago Park District decides mid-meeting on Rogers Park issue By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah Tribune staff reporter Published October 21, 2005 Chicago Park District officials said Thursday they were dropping proposals for a harbor in Rogers Park. The proposed harbor, near Loyola University, was one of five sites suggested by a marina consultant hired by the Park District to find new harbor locations to meet growing demands for boat slips. The Park District made the decision halfway through a public meeting that packed 300 people into the gymnasium of the Loyola Park fieldhouse. "If you don't stand up and oppose this, it's going to happen," shouted Jane Alexander, 71, who has lived a block from the lake in Rogers Park for 20 years. Residents applauded criticisms of the harbor proposal that included statements it would snarl traffic along Sheridan Road, add to a parking crunch and make it the only harbor in Chicago in which residential property would abut a marina. Several people wore stickers that had the words "Loyola Marina" with a line going through it. The Rogers Park Community Action Network had distributed leaflets through the neighborhood in recent days, pushing for a vocal turnout. "People here have already spoken about a marina--we don't want this kind of development on our lakefront," said Francis Tobin, interim director of the network, which started the "Save Our Lakefront" campaign that in November led voters in 10 lakefront precincts to reject any landfill north of Hollywood Avenue. "Frankly, this is insulting that they're bringing this as an idea when we've already dealt with this." Area activists fought off earlier attempts by the Evanston City Council to build a marina at the border to Rogers Park. They organized the November referendum when an architectural exhibit last year laid out ideas for a new lakefront in Edgewater and Rogers Park, including extending Lake Shore Drive. Michigan-based JJR LLC had proposed new harbors, including Navy Pier North and South and the former USX site at 87th Street. It will submit a study in January focusing on a few of the proposed harbors. Friends of the Parks officials said Thursday the USX site, the Navy Pier locations and additions to DuSable Harbor should be looked at first. In other news, only two companies responded to the Park District's request for bids to manage the city's nine existing harbors. Some interested bidders complained the Park District did not provide information in time for them to compete. Robert Christoph, owner of Miami-based RCI Marine Inc., said after a Sept. 7 tour of the harbors he had asked for staffing information and line item expenses at each harbor. He received answers Friday, just three working days before the deadline Wednesday. He was unable to submit a bid. Chicago Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said the agency "certainly attempted to answer every question." Westrec Marina Management, which has run the harbors for 10 years, was one of the companies that submitted a bid. The other bidder was first-timer Do Wright Marina. The local company submitted a bid to manage harbors at Jefferson Park and 59th Street

November 13th, 2005, 11:33 PM	#8
NWside Registered User Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 467	Great Idea for a thread.... Here's a rendering of a 5 story development in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Clark, If anyone could post the image that would be great... http://morsehellhole.blogspot.com/20...i-theatre.html Also there's a Target being built on the site of a former strip mall on Peterson. From what I could tell it's a major improvement. The Target faces Peterson and from the look of it all parking is indoor, or hidden from view...

November 13th, 2005, 11:58 PM	#9
UrbanSophist Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Cambridge, MA Posts: 2,875	Yeah, I really like these threads, LA1. (btw, what's with the name? )

November 14th, 2005, 01:13 AM	#12
LA1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 834	I think what I can do is seperate the high development areas, then maybe Southwest side, Far South side, Far Northwest Side. I don't think clumping everything together is that good of a idea, it isnt that organized. Wired NY or other city websites do it by neighborhood mostly, not sections of the city. There is too much going on to just lump everything into 3-4 threads.

November 15th, 2005, 12:09 AM	#13
wickedestcity BANNED Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Chicago Posts: 1,641	theres a gated community being developed on kedzie just south of pratt next to the gas company(not to be confused with the one just compleated recently just east of kedzie on pratt) this mini communitie is set to host varying sized masions . i know the developer name but i still cant find any info about it on the net. is anyone familiar with this development and know any thing about it?

November 15th, 2005, 01:25 AM	#14
LA1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 834	CHICAGO-The bulk of a local university’s $85-million redevelopment project will be spent at a building that once was the tallest in the city. The 14-story Mundelein Center building is not located Downtown, but rather nearly eight miles north at 1012-28 W. Sheridan Rd. in the Rogers Park community. Loyola University could receive up to $20.4 million in tax increment financing for the entire project, which will include work on three residence halls and streetscapes. However, more than $62 million is budgeted for repairing the 76-year-old Mundelein Center, which is on the National Register of Historic Buildings, where 25% of the space is unusable because of its disrepair, says Michelle Dewlen of the department of planning and development. The tax increment financing proposal, endorsed Tuesday by the community development commission, calls for the university to front-fund the entire project, with reimbursements from the city coming on a “pay as you go” basis, assuming university-owned properties are generating revenue. In addition to its own fund-raising, university officials are considering historic tax credits, says vice president of capital planning Wayne Magdziarz. To get the $20.4 million in tax increment financing, the university agreed to have the Mundelein Center designated a Chicago landmark, which will give the city additional oversight over changes to its façade. In addition, the university agreed to an approval process that requires community, department of planning and development as well as city council involvement as redevelopment of the lakefront campus continues. “We’re still in somewhat of a buying mode for strategic properties around our campus,” Magdziarz says. With 15,000 students enrolled at the lakefront campus, the space there is only one-third what is needed for a student body that size, he adds. When work is completed in 2009, the university plans to move its performing and fine arts programs to Mundelein Center. The building will get new elevator, heating, ventilation and air conditioning as well as electrical systems during its three-year renovation. While “green roofs” will be installed, they will replace portions that already are leaking. In addition, work is needed on the foundation, and the building will be made handicapped accessible. “This has long been a building, and a project, that has been out there, and one that we recognize is important not only to the university but the community,” Magdziarz says

December 17th, 2005, 03:49 AM	#19
ThirdCoast312 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: north side Posts: 233	in that area the houses are already like that anyways. it's practically like the suburbs over there on east of the river from Norhside Prep. This is no major loss.

December 17th, 2005, 06:51 AM	#20
LA1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 834	I agree. Its almost in the suburbs.