Two twin residential tower developments for the West Loop and Near West Side, three TODs and an amended planned development for a commercial development near Wrigley Field commonly referred to as “Addison and Clark” are on Thursday’s Plan Commission agenda.

In total, there are twelve applications slated for review, making it one of the longest agendas of the year.  

Three applicants are taking advantage of the density bonus buy-in and three applications qualify as Transit Oriented Developments (TODs). One of the TODs is in Wicker Park near the Blue Line, another is in Washington Park along the Green Line, and the third by O’Hare, also along the Blue Line.

Logan Square 101-Unit TOD

2835 W. Belden Ave. (1st Ward, O2015-6396)  

This proposed six-story residential building has 100 efficiency units and 30 accessory parking spaces. Plans call for the demolition of the existing vacant industrial building and single family home.

The project qualifies as a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) due to its proximity to the California Avenue stop on the CTA’s Blue Line. Barry Sidel filed the application in May 2015 requesting a rezone from a C1-2 district to a B2-3 underlying planned development. The project triggers the city’s ARO. 10 affordable units for those earning 100% of the Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area Median Income are planned.

Roseland Charter School Relocation

10909 S. Cottage Grove Ave. (9th Ward, O2017-3854)

The Chicago Collegiate Charter School in Roseland wants to temporarily locate its school at the Salem Baptist Church (the subject property). The school, which serves 4th through 12th grade, is seeking a rezone of the church property, from heavy industry manufacturing (M3-3) to commercial (C3-1), in order to legally occupy a portion of the 67,600 sq. ft. church.

Plan Commission approval is needed because the church is located in an industrial corridor. Pending approval by the Plan Commission and City Council, the school will apply for a special use permit.

58-Unit Mostly Affordable Housing Washington Park

63-77 E. Garfield Blvd (20th Ward, O2017-155)

This application is to build a mixed-use affordable housing development on partially city-owned land near Washington Park. The plan for a four-story, 58-unit building with 7,000 sq. ft. of commercial retail was was filed by a slew of LLCs managed by Northbrook-based law firm Friedland, Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, which has overseen several large-scale development projects in Chicago.  

The development team plans to leverage federal low-income housing tax credits, as well as $6.35 million in TIF. 49 units will be reserved for those who earn up to 60% of Area Median Income. It qualifies as a TOD as it’s near the Garfield stop on the city’s Green Line.  

The applicant, Brin Life Center, LLC, received preliminary approval from the city’s Community Development Commission to use TIF funds and enter into a negotiated sale with the city to purchase two city-owned vacant parcels for $2 (63- 77 E. Garfield and 5500-5516 S. Michigan). It’s a large plot of vacant land surrounded by churches and a few blocks west of Washington Park.

Rev. Torrey L. Barrett, a member of the city’s Police Board and founder and Executive Director of K.L.E.O. Community Family Life Center Chicago, is part of the venture. He’s listed as one of the managers of Imagine Group Washington Park, LLC, one of the shareholding entities.  

The plan development application requests a rezone from a neighborhood shopping district (B1-2) and residential (RM5) to a uniform underlying zoning of B2-3.

“Union West” Twin 15-Story M/U

933-43 W. Washington (25th Ward, O2017-2162)

A pair of 15-story mixed-use buildings with a combined 356 residential units and 13,700 sq. ft. of ground floor retail was filed by Haymarket Apartments Joint Venture, LP in March.

It requests a rezone of the site bounded by West Washington, North Morgan, West Madison, and North Sangamon Streets from a downtown mixed-use district (DX-3) to a DX-5. The development team is taking advantage of the density bonus system for an addition FAR of 1.5, though the payment amount isn’t listed in the application.

The property, a surface parking lot, is owned by McDermott Center, doing business as the Haymarket Center, an addiction treatment center  located across the street from the proposed development.

The applicant is Orlando, Florida based ZRS Management, an apartment & multifamily property management firm that also developed the Chestnut Tower on the city’s Near North Side. Architect bKL designed 184-foot towers (Renderings)

The project triggers the city’s 2015 affordable housing requirements for developments in higher-income areas. This means 10% of total units planned (36 units) are called for. Nine of those units (25% of 36) are required on-site, the remaining can be located elsewhere or require an in-lieu payment of $125,00 per unit.

Twin 17-Story, 586-M/U Towers for West Loop

833-55 West Madison (27th Ward, O2016-7306)

Another pair of residential towers on the agenda are proposed by the John Buck Company. The 17-story mixed-use buildings will have a total of 586 residential units and nearly 300 parking spaces. The application requests a rezone from downtown mixed-use (DX-5) to downtown service (DS-3) and a floor area bonus.

Adjacent 297-Unit Residential Tower for O’Hare Marriott

8535 W. Higgins Road (41st Ward, O2015-6354)

Host Hotels & Resorts, LP (doing business as the Chicago Marriott O’Hare) wants to amend their existing planned development application in order to construct a seven-story residential building, a parking structure, and possibly an office building. The application would divide Sub-area B into three separate parcels, one for each item planned.

A letter on file from Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) says the project includes two office buildings (250,000 square feet each), 40,000 square feet of retail sales, eating and drinking and 230,000 square feet of residential.

A $2 million payment to the city’s affordable housing fund will cover the required affordable units. The project is a TOD, located a block away from the Cumberland stop on the CTA’s Blue Line.