The owner/developer for the Dunkin Donuts parking lot at the corner of Clark & Belmont, BlitzLake, has settled on 10 stories for its apartment proposal. We knew it'd be in the 8-12 story range, and we figured it'd be bland. Early indications are spot-on: this is one dreary design, by Hirsch Associates, delivering only on its promise of transit-proximate residential density. The 92-unit building has studios, one- and two-beds and slightly favors the one-bed layouts, but the first full floor of apartments doesn't begin until the sixth floor. That's right, retail consumes the first two floors (and the basement) and 117 parking spaces are overstuffed into the third, fourth, and fifth with a thin perimeter of housing. Not very enlightened, especially considering the prevalence of mass transit and alternative mode travel in the core of Lake View.
According to the Lake View Patch, the $50M project would upend a few retailers but not Dunkin, which will merely lose its lot. There's potential for a large grocery store within the proposed 50,000-square-feet of retail space, which the rendering itself gestures to. Features such as an amenity deck, green roof, fitness center, party room, and bike storage oughta help usher this development into the now-ubiquitous "luxury" category. Neighbor groups (three of them!) and Ald. Tom Tunney will soon weigh in, and, with a need for new zoning, expect BlitzLake to make concessions.
·Proposed 10-Story Tower Detailed at Belmont and Clark [The Patch]
·3200 N Clark Plans and Renderings (pdf) [44th Ward]
·Development Watch: Lake View [Curbed Chicago]
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