WEST LOOP — The city’s Zoning Committee will consider two West Loop projects that will continue to reshape the area near the Kennedy Expressway at its meeting set to start at noon Tuesday.
After winning the approval of the Plan Commission Thursday, aldermen will consider plans for a 165-key Equinox hotel with a 30,000 square foot sports club, 370 apartments and restaurant space at 725 W. Randolph St. The building falls within the Near North Pilot zone for the city’s affordable requirements ordinance and once built, the 52-story building would be the tallest west of the Kennedy Expressway, according to Curbed.
Commission approves new plan for 725 W. Randolph St. that will allow for a 52-story tower with a 165-room hotel, 370 residential units and 5,000 square feet of restaurant space. The developer of the $395 million project will pay $4.85 million into the #ChicagoNOF system. pic.twitter.com/mOzpTGmzjl
— Chicago DPD (@ChicagoDPD) July 19, 2018
Under plans, developer Related Midwest will provide 15 affordable units on-site, 25 off-site, and make a roughly $540,000 payment to the city. The hotel is also adding density, meaning the developer of the $395 million project will pay $4.85 million into the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, according to city planning officials.
The other big West Loop development on the committee’s agenda is at the heart of an effort by Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) to press developers to set aside affordable commercial space in an effort to keep mom-and-pop businesses from going under.
The proposal (O2017-8997) to build a new 12-story building at 310 N. Sangamon St. with 7,800 square feet of ground floor retail and office space on the upper floors also passed the Plan Commission. Burnett said he wanted developer Mark Goodman to commit to affordable rents for neighbors in the booming neighborhood. Goodman countered that the building was already offering retail rents for $60 per square foot – much lower than the $100 per square foot other neighbors are charging.
Burnett said he wanted something in writing before Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
“We can try to bake something into the [planned development] statements,” Goodman said last week.
RELATED: Make Retail Rent Affordable In Booming West Loop, Alderman Says
The development at 310 N. Sangamon St. will pay an estimated bonus fee of $2.4 million in exchange for added density. Approximately $1.9 million will go into the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, officials said.
The committee will also consider a four-story building set for Garfield Ridge (O2018-2516) set to feature 62 independent senior living units.
In addition, the committee is set to consider three transit-oriented developments. Together, the new buildings would feature 34 units and just five parking spaces. They are:
- O2018-4018 — A four-story building with seven units, no parking and 570 square feet of commercial space would be built at 1511 N. Sedgwick St. in the 27th Ward.
- O2018-2386 — An 18-unit building would be built at 3500 N. Clark St., not far from Wrigley Field in the 44th Ward. Plans call for a Culver’s to be built on the first floor of the building, which would offer five parking spaces.
- O2017-143— Three, three-story buildings with nine units and no parking would be built at 3201 W. Belmont Ave. in the 35th Ward. The complex is near the Belmont station on the CTA Blue Line.
Get more in-depth, daily coverage of Chicago politics at The Daily Line.