EDGEWATER — A Clark Street office and retail building were demolished to make way for a housing development coming to the area just north of Andersonville.
Developer Anne Shutler is bringing an 18-unit condo development to 5841-5909 N. Clark St., replacing two buildings and a parking lot that stood for decades at the corner of Clark Street and Ardmore Avenue.
The four-story building will have 29 parking spaces in a first-floor garage, according to Ald. Harry Osterman’s 48th Ward office. There will be a mix of three- and five-bedroom condos, including duplex units with direct access to the parking garage, Shutler said. Renderings show the units having balconies along Clark Street and Ardmore Avenue.
Units will average about 3,000 square feet, Shutler said. Prices are to be determined, but Shutler said she expects the condos to average $675,000 for the three-bed, two-bathroom units and $850,000 for the five-bed, three-bathroom units, parking included.
Shutler decided to go with family-sized condos at the site after seeing a previous Andersonville development proposal opposed by neighbors for only including studios and one-bedrooms, she said.
Shutler decided to propose a product that has been relatively rare in Chicago since the housing market crash of 2008: a multi-family building with condos instead of rentals and one that offers larger footprints.
“No one’s building condos,” Shutler said. “There’s a real deficit. These are really a great family-sized alternative to the single-family options” in Andersonville.
Work on the building has not yet started as the city has yet to sign off on a construction permit, public records show. The previous buildings were demolished earlier this year.
The project does not require a zoning change and therefore was not subject to Osterman’s community development approval process.
But Shutler is asking the city’s permission to reduce the required rear property setback from 30 feet to zero feet, according to city records. The developer is also seeking the city’s permission to include condo units on the first floor rather than retail.
The city’s Zoning Board of Appeals is set to vote on those requests at its September meeting.
If the zoning variances are approved in September, foundation work could begin this fall, Shutler said. The bulk of the construction would take place next year, with condos hitting the market in early 2024.
The Clark Street site previously held an office building at 5905 N. Clark St. plus a retail building and parking lot at 5845 N. Clark St. The retail building was home to Filipino eatery Bacolod’s Best Kitchen and a currency exchange business.
Shutler bought the properties earlier this year in two transactions totaling $2.6 million, Cook County property records show.
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