Several proposed mixed-used residential, commercial and office buildings are listed on the Plan Commission agenda for today, including a 6-story commercial and residential apartment building that will have direct views of the new elevated Bloomingdale trail and a draft plan to turn a century-old brick building in Ravenswood into a loft office space and residential housing complex. We go through the individual large-scale applications below. The Commission is also scheduled to review and approve the $1 sale of 100 city-owned vacant lots in the Austin Community Area as part of the City’s Large Lots program.

Proposed Apartment-Office Space Complex in Ravenswood - 47th Ward
4801 N. Ravenswood Ave. | O2015-5333 | Introduced: 7/29/2015

Hayes Properties has a plan to transform a nearly one hundred year-old, four-story brick building in the Ravenswood Industrial Corridor into a mixed-use apartment and office building. The subject site is on the Northeast corner of Lawrence & Ravenswood Ave., adjacent to the METRA Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Plans include 36 residential units, a little over 90,000 sq. ft. of office space, and enough parking for 69 cars. Hayes acquired the building in 2014 after the property’s former tenants, Newark Corporation, an electronic company, relocated to the West Loop. The $6 million rehab is expected to create 20 construction and 260 permanent jobs. But in order to break ground on the site, Hayes needs Plan Commission approval to downzone the lot from a Manufacturing District (M1-2) to a Business and Commercial District (B2-2), since housing isn’t permitted in manufacturing zoned streets.

Bucktown’s WhirlyBall Seeks Rooftop Patio - 32nd Ward
1823 W. Webster Ave. | O2015-4633 | Introduced: 6/17/2015

Samuel Elias, the owner of three WhirlyBall amusement centers, applied for a downzone to permit a second story outdoor patio at the chain’s new 50,000 sq. ft. headquarters, located directly off the Kennedy Expressway in Bucktown. WhirlyBall is a sport that combines lacrosse, basketball and bumper cars. The indoor recreational facilities are popular for group events (alcohol is served on site). According to the application Elias filed under the name Jarla, LLC, they plan to serve alcohol on the patio and will apply for a special use permit once the downzone is approved. Plans also include the construction of an off-site parking lot for 120 cars.


Proposed 6-story Mixed-Use Building Next to New 606 Trail - 32nd Ward
1749 N. Milwaukee Ave. | O2015-5371 | Introduced: 7/29/2015

Centrum Partners is proposing to build a six-story, residential and commercial building that will overlook the new elevated Bloomingdale Trail. The joint venture between Centrum Partners and McLinden Holdings, LLC includes commercial retail and a refurbished Aldi’s Supermarket at the base, and 95 residential units split among the top four floors. The approximately 59,000 sq ft site will include a 60 car surface parking lot for shoppers and a 62 car basement garage for residents. The site is located between the Damen and Western CTA Blue Line stops, but the applicant, NRG Milwaukee, LLC, didn’t file the application as a Transit Oriented Development.


Structured Development Wants to Add more Retail near the Clybourn Corridor - 27th Ward
1450 N. Dayton St. | O2015-1357 | Introduced: 3/18/2015

Structured Development, the real estate firm behind the massive New City retail development project in the Clybourn Corridor, is part of a joint effort to build a four-story commercial retail and office building with an adjacent, multi-level parking structure for 550 cars near Goose Island. Structured and Big Deahl Productions Inc. filed a joint application under the name Big Deahl, LLC to establish a business planned development for the triangle shaped lot on 1450 N. Dayton Street. The area is currently zoned as a Commercial district (C3-5), so the proposed construction of 110,000 sq ft of office space is allowed, but the retail component, approximately 103,000 sq ft, is not, which is why the application needs approval from the Plan Commission.


Proposed Fulton Market Office Tower - 27th Ward
213-223 N. Peoria St. | O2014-8814 | Introduced: 11/5/2014
This is the oldest item on today’s agenda. New York-based Shorenstein Properties’filed a joint application with 219 Partners, LLC, a private partnership between Shapack Investments and M Squared Property, to rezone three neighboring properties in Fulton Market. The Business Planned Development would include the construction of a 10-story commercial office building, a new one-story retail building, and the rehab of an old meatpacking facility built in 1893. Shapack Partners acquired the 13,000 sq ft parking lot on 213-223 N. Peoria St. in 2013, and the vacant double wide parking lot on 217-219 N. Green Street in 2014. The Peoria Street lot will house the 10-story office building. Plans call for ground floor retail, parking for 59 cars on the 2-5 floors, and loft-style offices on the remaining top floors. As for the old six-story Amity Packing Co. building, developers plan keep the brick facade and add new windows and metal cladding. That building will be a mix of office and retail.