CITY HALL — Two large-scale developments that received key city backing last week have been temporarily held up in the City Council’s zoning committee.
The Chicago Plan Commission on Thursday advanced a massive, $1.1 billion multi-phase project at 700 W. Chicago Ave. in River West that includes more than 2,400 units near the future site of the permanent Chicago casino. They also approved developer Sterling Bay’s plans for two buildings in Lincoln Park that would create 615 new apartments.
But both developments were deferred ahead of Tuesday’s meeting of the Council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards, which came as Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) and some neighbors have opposed the Lincoln Park project.
Members of the zoning committee did, however, support numerous other developments, setting up final votes before City Council. Those include another Sterling Bay project in the West Loop, a Chicago Transit Authority training center planned in West Garfield Park and a 29-unit Wrigleyville building opposed by some neighbors.
City Council reconvenes July 17. There is another zoning committee hearing scheduled for July 16, according to the City Clerk’s website.
Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th), vice chair of the zoning committee, continues to run the committee’s hearings in the absence of a permanent chair. Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) resigned from that position in December amid controversy.
High-Profile Developments Delayed
The proposed development at 1840 N. Marcey Ave. would be built just east of the Chicago River near the former General Iron site, which closed in January 2021.
Current plans call for two buildings at 25 and 15 stories high. The project is near the proposed site for Sterling Bay’s Lincoln Yards megadevelopment, which has mostly stalled in recent years.
The project on Marcey has received support from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration, but Waguespack and some neighbors have pushed back, particularly over concerns about the height of the buildings.
The proposal made it through the Plan Commission anyway, setting up a possible showdown over the de facto practice known as aldermanic prerogative, where alderpeople get final say over any development in their wards.
Any public fight, however, was delayed on Tuesday, as Waguespack as well as an attorney for Sterling Bay both requested the project be deferred from the meeting agenda, a zoning committee staffer said.
About a mile-and-a-half down the Chicago River, the massive development at 700 W. Chicago Ave. was also temporarily delayed.
Backed by developer Onni, it would be built over three phases and calls for up to 2,451 mixed-income residences, 280 hotel keys and 1.9 acres of public open space, according to the city’s planning department.
Known as Halsted Landing, the project would be across the river from Onni’s Halsted Pointe development and include an expansive riverwalk.
With over 2,400 residences, it would be larger than the Presidential Towers in the West Loop.
The project was deferred at the request of an attorney for the developer, a zoning staffer said. Both developments could be reviewed and voted on at the next zoning committee hearing.
Wrigleyville Redevelopment
In Wrigleyville, the zoning committee advanced a proposal to redevelop three well-known apartment buildings into a five-story, 29-unit building, with plans also calling for a rooftop pickleball court.
The project is moving forward despite several neighbors speaking out against it at Tuesday’s hearing. They expressed concerns the development would displace current residents and harm the character of the neighborhood, among other issues.
An online petition opposing the project has more than 2,300 signatures as of Tuesday morning.
The century-old buildings at 3627, 3631 and 3633 N. Sheffield Avenue will likely be familiar to Cubs fans as the ones that housed the famous Torco billboard on its roof and as well as the property that became famous for its “Eamus Catuli” sign — loosely translated from Latin as “Let’s go Cubs.”
That sign hung for years atop 3633 N. Sheffield Ave., but has since moved next door. The “Eamus Catluli” sign was joined for years by a sign that read AC0071108, which stood for Anno Catuli, or “the year of the Cubs.” It had been “00” years since a division title, “71” years since a pennant and “108” years since a world title.
But after the Cubs won it all in 2016, the counter was reset to AC000000.
The ownership group behind the development, led by rooftop property investor Marc Anguiano, first presented the plans to the East Lakeview Neighbors community group in February, Lawson (44th) previously told Block Club.
The latest proposal includes the 29 apartments plus 11 parking spaces along the alley behind the building. Two pickleball courts would also be constructed on the rooftop.
Lawson said six units in the new buildings would be marked as affordable.
CTA Training Center
A training center for bus and train drivers was also approved.
The Chicago Transit Authority training and control center is planned for vacant land at 335-375 N. Pulaski Road in West Garfield Park.
The facility will be three stories and “contain general office space, classrooms and training spaces, and a control center,” according to a presentation submitted to the Plan Commission.
The control center will oversee all bus operations for the entire CTA system, according to attorney Bridget O’Keefe, who is representing the transit agency.
Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) praised the project on Tuesday, and said it would bring job opportunities and beautification initiatives to her West Side ward. About 120-150 CTA jobs would be relocated to the facility.
“It’s going to really highlight that particular area on Pulaski and Lake,” she said. “The community supports the project, I support the project as well.”
The facility is located about a block from the Pulaski Green Line station. Plans call for 188 parking spaces.
West Loop Apartments
While Sterling Bay’s Lincoln Yards project was stalled, alderpeople advanced a 559-unit apartment building in the West Loop backed from the prominent developer.
The 44-story building at 345 N. Aberdeen St. in the West Loop also would include 225 parking spaces and 10,000 square feet of retail space, according to plans. It’s the latest in a slew of West Loop apartment towers to be approved in recent years.
The site on Aberdeen Street was for many years home to Cougle Foods, which moved to McKinley Park in 2021. About 112 units in the development would be marked as affordable.
The zoning committee also approved an 18-story, 256 apartment development along the Motor Row Landmark District at 2328 S. Michigan Ave., as well as a 15-story, 359 unit building at 2031-2033 N. Kingsbury St. in Lincoln Park.
A planned development was also amended to allow a cannabis dispensary to open at 3631-3657 N Central Ave. in Portage Park.
Block Club reporter Patrick Filbin contributed.
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