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ROGERS PARK — A Rogers Park apartment building near the Red Line will get an addition after the project received City Council approval Wednesday.
Property investor Mark Falanga now can add 16 units to his building at 1415 W. Morse Ave. The addition would bring relatively affordable units near the Morse station and help modernize the existing four-story building.
Plans call for a five-story structure on the property’s rear parking lot. Along with the apartments, it would have 11 ground-floor parking spaces and a rooftop deck that would not be visible from Morse.
A “bridgeway” would connect each level of the addition to the existing building. An elevator in the new building would therefore be accessible to the existing structure, making those apartments accessible to people who use wheelchairs for the first time in their history, Falanga said at a previous community meeting.
Credit: Courtesy 49th Ward OfficeThe existing building is being renovated as well, and current tenants of the building will be able to stay after the renovation, he said.
Two of the units would be marketed as affordable under city laws, while the rest of the one-bedroom units would rent for about $1,000 a month. Currently, rents for the studio apartments in the existing building run $700 a month.
Some neighbors previously said the addition would crowd the businesses on Glenwood Avenue. Falanga and his team made some changes to address those issues. Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) favored the project, saying it benefits the neighborhood to add onto an existing building rather than tearing down and replacing a building, or constructing on an empty lot.
“This is the type of smart development that I’m hoping we can see more of in the 49th Ward and around the city,” Hadden said.
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