LOGAN SQUARE — Neighbors will have the opportunity to weigh in on a development planned for the Project Logan site at a community meeting next month.
Developer Stanislaw Pluta wants a zoning change to build a five-story, 56-unit apartment complex at 2934-40 W. Medill St., a site currently home to Project Logan, a four-sided graffiti wall curated by longtime graffiti artists and admired by many.
The plan also calls for a 56-space parking lot and ground-floor commercial space. Of the 56 apartments, eight would be reserved as affordable housing. The rest would be market-rate.
Ald. Daniel La Spata’s 1st Ward office is hosting a community meeting on the development proposal April 26. The meeting will start 6 p.m.To RSVP, email zoning@the1stward.com.
RELATED: Another Large Apartment Complex Proposed Near California Blue Line In Logan Square
If built, the project would be the latest upscale apartment tower to rise near the California Blue Line station. The area has seen an influx of such projects, including the MiCa Towers at 2733 W. Belden Ave., the Noca Blu complex at 2342-48 N. California Ave. and the “L” complex at 2211 N. Milwaukee Ave.
The apartment complex threatens to wipe out Project Logan, which has become a go-to destination for bold graffiti art over the last decade. The founders have said the situation is a result of gentrification happening across Logan Square.
Over the past few months, La Spata’s office has gathered input from neighbors by way of a community survey. Of the 200 neighbors who filled out the survey, most said they would like to see apartments rather than commercial space on the ground floor. But neighbors were split on the scale of the project, on the parking lot and the project’s height in relationship to the number of apartments.
More than a third of the neighbors who submitted written comments expressed “outright opposition,” listing gentrification, displacement, lack of affordable housing and the loss of the graffiti wall as concerns, La Spata’s office noted. More survey results below.
La Spata’s office said it’s working with the developer on “expanding the number of affordable units on this site.”
It’s unclear if Pluta, the developer, intends to keep Project Logan or recreate it. After neighbors began sounding the alarm over the graffiti wall, Pluta told La Spata he’d keep it if it meant he could have the zoning change, La Spata said in January. The alderman called the move “frustrating.”
“This is a very culturally significant space for Logan Square,” La Spata previously said of Project Logan. “We really believe — regardless of what happens with the development — that, just in terms of being a good neighbor, the developer should make every effort to preserve that wall and hopefully work with us to replace it or reconstitute it.”
Pluta bought some of the properties that make up Project Logan for $1.2 million in February 2020, according to Cook County property records. The developer has built several residential projects in the area, including a 59-unit apartment complex at 2701 W. Armitage Ave.
La Spata has not said if he supports the Medill Street proposal, but his office has raised “potential planning concerns.” In the survey, La Spata’s office questioned whether the area has the foot traffic to support such a development, whether the project addresses the need for affordable housing in Logan Square and if the development should include fewer parking spots because it is near the California Blue Line.
Other high-end apartment complexes in the area have struggled during the coronavirus pandemic, Block Club reported earlier this month, with many residents leaving for cheaper rents and more space.
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