This doesn't bode well for Webster Square. Alderman Daley appears to have sided with the NIMBYs after Tuesday's community debate over the proposed mixed-use development, and she has asked the Chicago Plan Commission to remove the project from its December 16 agenda, according to a new Sun-Times article. The sticking point appears to be the 20,000-square-foot Fresh Market grocery store. "We'll have to work harder to see if the developers will address the retail component," Daley told the Sun-Times. Short of completely removing it from the proposal, it's hard to imagine what changes to the retail would be sufficient to gain the approval of anti-development neighbors. Sandz Development has already altered their plans several times in an effort to appease nearby residents, and partner David Goldman didn't tell the Sun-Times whether the plans could be changed further. At the meeting on Tuesday, several people mentioned the recent New York Times article about the vacant Edgewater Medical Center that has been a blight on that neighborhood for the past decade — will Lincoln Park Hospital share that fate? "No one else will make this vacant hospital go away any time soon," Goldman told the Sun-Times.
· Complete Webster Square coverage [Curbed Chicago]
· 12 stories of turmoil [Sun-Times]
Filed under:
Loading comments...