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The Alley to be Replaced with Seven-Story Apartment Project

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As work is underway reshaping the northwest corner of Clark Street and Belmont Avenue with an eight story transit oriented development (TOD) featuring 90 apartments, 39 parking spaces and a Target Express store, another proposal has popped up immediately next door to the north. This new project proposes 24 units, two retail spaces and six parking stalls in a seven story building at the site of longtime retail anchor The Alley. The building would rise to a bit more than 75 feet to the roofline, and would be more or less flush with the new development underway to the south.

Located at 3228 North Clark Street, the now-closed Alley had been in business at the building since 1974. The store operated in a long building that stretches from Clark Street all the way to a mid-block alley at the rear of the lot. The interior has a split level arrangement with merchandise spread among three floors inside the low slung structure which originally was used as a theater. The theater design came with a terra cotta front facade and large archway over the main entrance. This facade will be preserved in the redevelopment, with the new seven story structure rising behind. The remainder of the original building would then be demolished.

The new building would carry the proportions of the historic facade vertically up the exterior, featuring a long bay of windows directly above the archway in the center and two smaller window bays would then be directly above the proposed retail entrances. And as with the TOD nature of the project, one of the six planned parking spaces will include on-site car sharing. The project will reinforce the changing nature of the urban streetscape along Clark, especially as other TOD projects are expected to come along after the Chicago Transit Authority completes the planned Belmont Flyover project just to the north.

Shawn Ursini

·Demolition Underway at Corner of Belmont and Clark [Curbed Chicago]
·Demolition Day for Punkin' Donuts Parking Lots Draws Close [Curbed Chicago]
·Clark & Belmont Tower Sails Through Plan Commission Vote [Curbed Chicago]