Though groundbreaking on the Near North Side’s massive phased Atrium Village redevelopment proposal has been reported as imminent since demolition began in November, the residential mega-project took an important step forward with the issuance of a building permit for the foundation and lower seven floors of its phase one tower. The permit calls for a 31-story, 400-unit building with a seven-story attached parking structure wrapped in housing units and ground level retail to be constructed at the southwest corner of Wells and Division. Designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, it appears the building has shrunk slightly since 2012 when the city-approved Planned Development (PD) documentation showed 32 stories and 405 units. Atrium Village's future redevelopment phases will also see the collaboration of FitzGerald Associates, Bumgardner Architects, and landscape specialists Hitchcock Design.
For decades Atrium village consisted of mixed income housing spread across a midrise building and several lowrise residential blocks. Isolated from the streetscape by surface parking lots and under-used green spaces, the original design created somewhat of a pedestrian dead-zone around the housing component. The new plan for Atrium Village aims to take advantage of the area’s newfound desirability by creating 47,000 square feet of street-facing retail and a centralized public park. Ultimately four highrises up to 44 stories tall will rise at the site and contain a total of 1,500 dwelling units.
The site’s existing 225 affordable housing units will be replaced by 300 new below-market-rate units. Perhaps most exciting the development sets aside room for the CTA to rebuild the Brown Line stop at Division which was razed in 1949. Restoring the area's 'L' connection could be a driving force for completing Atrium Village's futures phases as well as help transform the already rapidly developing Cabrini Green neighborhood.
The Atrium Village project is led by Vancouver-based development company Onni Group. A relative newcomer to Chicago’s booming residential scene, Onni has been busy with one rental tower currently under construction at 750 N Hudson and another proposed for the Clark & Barlow hardware store at 353 W Grand. While an earlier timetable Onni’s Atrium Village master plan cited November 2017 as its overall completion date, it’s hard to image any developer could complete all five phases in such a short amount of time.
·Demolition Takes Over Division Street for Atrium Village Redevelopment [Curbed Chicago]
·Massive 1,500-Unit Atrium Village Redevelopment Project Almost Ready to Dig In [Curbed Chicago]
·Atrium Village to Bring Tall Buildings, Green Space to Near North [Curbed Chicago]
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