The Chicago Plan Commission meets this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. to discuss large-scale development plans to reconstruct a large parking lot in Lincoln Park, plans for a 30-unit residential building off the Southport Red Line stop, a new luxury boutique hotel in the West Loop, a new mixed-use building next to the old Apollo Theater in Lincoln Park, and a mixed commercial and residential building near Cabrini-Green.

Lincoln Park Parking Lot - 46th Ward
Developers seeking to reconstruct the parking lot in Lincoln Park at 500 W. Wilson Dr. plan to install underground stormwater storage and a landscaped infiltration system separate from the city’s sewer system. A new 507-spot parking lot will be built on top of the new irrigation system.

Southport Red Line Residential Development - 44th Ward
The planned development adjacent to the Southport Red Line stop (3401 N. Southport Ave) will take advantage of the City’s new Transit Oriented Development Ordinance, which minimizes onsite parking requirements for buildings constructed near public transportation. The applicant, Southport, LLC, plans to build a 4-story mixed-use rental building with 30 apartment units and retail at the base.

Lincoln Center Development - 43rd Ward
Baker Development Corporation is part of a group working to buy the Apollo Theater building and adjacent Lincoln Center condominium building in Lincoln Park (2518-2552 N. Lincoln Ave; 922-928 W. Altgeld St.). Baker eventually sold the theater, but retained the air rights so it could demolish the existing condos and build a ten-story mixed residential and commercial building. That building would have 200 apartment units anchored by 16,300 square feet of ground floor retail space. The original proposal was amended after the public review process to cut parking from 186 spaces to 138 spaces, reduce the facade from 240 ft. to 140 ft., and include 25 fewer residential units.

Luxury Boutique Hotel West Loop - 27th Ward
Architectural firm Booth Hansen designed the proposed 12-story Nobu Hotel and Restaurant on 848-56 W. Randolph St., commonly known as restaurant row. While the applicant on file is 848 W. Randolph, LLC, the Nobu Hospitality Group (which includes Chef Nobu Matsuhisa and actor Robert De Niro) is behind the plan to construct the commercial hotel. The group is planning on 83 hotel rooms, a 10,000 square foot restaurant, and off-site parking. Nobu Hospitality Group first released plans to build the hotel last year, and has since scaled down the project.

Residential Towers near Cabrini-Green - 27th Ward (deferred at the April meeting)
The Davis Group is behind a year-old plan to build a multi-story residential building on 460-76 W. Chicago Ave., a vacant lot south of the Cabrini-Green row homes. The building would have 200 residential units with commercial retail at the base. Since the land is part of Residential Business Planned Development No. 447, the applicant seeks to amend development requirements to build beyond zoned height limitations.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Plans

Belmont/Central TIF - 30th, 31st, 36th, 38th Wards
The City seeks to amend the Belmont/Central TIF Redevelopment Plan, which was originally approved in 1999 and was subsequently amended again in 1999, 2000 and 2011. The newest revision would extend the boundaries, provide a housing impact study, and update budget projections and costs. The original area consists of 81 city blocks and 446 buildings. The added area will bring 75 city blocks and 598 buildings into the fold. According to the report, minimal growth and a lack of private investment in the area will likely continue without a uniform plan to improve recreational space and remove blighted areas within the TIF boundaries. The redevelopment plan is expected to cost $95 million.

Sanitary Drainage and Ship Canal TIF Redevelopment Project Area - 12th & 22nd Wards
The project site is along an old industrial corridor at the site of the the former Campbell’s Soup Plant. It extends from Central Park Ave. to California Ave., running parallel to the Stevenson Expressway. The City first proposed the Redevelopment Project in 1991, following the decline in the manufacturing industry. The goal was (and continues to be) to clear older, obsolete structures, improve traffic, and incentivize private investment. The City authorized the use of TIF funds for the project so that it could serve as the “central force” for a “unified cooperative public-private development effort.” The proposal before the Plan Commission seeks to amend the original plan to extend the estimated completion date of the project, update the map to allow for mixed industrial and commercial uses, and add language regarding the use of eminent domain.

Sale of City-Owned Land & Property
The Plan Commission will also take up four requests to sell city-owned land under the Adjacent Neighbors Land Acquisition Program (ANLAP), which lets local homeowners buy vacant city-owned lots for under market value. Two of the vacant lots in question are in New City (20th Ward), one is in Humboldt Park (27th Ward) and one is in Roseland (34th Ward).

Other sales of city-owned land not part of the ANLAP program include a townhouse in the 15th Ward built in 1912 and a condemned two-unit home built in 1909 in the 16th Ward.