EDGEWATER — A key City Council committee signed off this week on a new Edgewater apartment building that will spell the end of a more than century-old mansion that’s housed the Wing Hoe Szechwan and Mandarin restaurant since 1971.
The approval of the project at 5356 N. Sheridan Road by the city’s Zoning Committee clears a major hurdle after years of work on the project. The project still needs support of the full City Council.
If granted, it’s unclear when the 1913 mansion will be razed or what exactly will become of Wing Hoe. Its owners didn’t want to comment on future plans. But Ald. Harry Osterman’s director of economic development and communications, Ally Brisbin, said the restaurant owners are looking for a new location to continue the restaurant.
It would become the latest mansion to fall in Edgewater as developers continue to build in the hot neighborhood.
The four-story, 52-foot-high building proposed for the site in place of the mansion would include 50 units. It’s close enough to public transportation — the Berwyn Red Line stop — to qualify as a “transit-oriented development,” meaning it can have fewer parking spots than other developments. The developer, MCZ Development, is proposing 21 parking spots.
Earlier designs for the project called for ground-floor retail, but that plan were scrapped after residents weighed in, making the entire building residential.
Five of the building’s units will be earmarked as affordable housing, fulfilling the city’s 10 percent affordable housing requirements for new developments.
Here are renderings for the new development:
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