Eastern Lakeview’s prominent intersection of Belmont and Clark is feeling much more like an outdoor urban room these days as the northwest corner is now hemmed in with six stories of reinforced concrete structure. The new building will eventually stand in at eight stories and will contain 90 apartments, two floors of retail and 39 parking spaces.
First proposed in the fall of 2013, the project was initially planned to stand in at 11 stories and was to include as many as 110 units coupled with 116 parking spaces. The greater than 1:1 parking ratio was to supplement the sizable retail component, but as the design was modified and shrank to 8 floors, the parking count also dropped dramatically. The lowered parking ratio allowed the amount of above grade structure dedicated for a garage to shrink while the project as a whole takes better advantage of the transit oriented location near the Belmont Station of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red, Brown and Purple Lines. The new development's design comes from the Chicago-based Hirsch Associates.
Demolition of the existing one- and two-story buildings began in February 2015, while the corner building occupied by a Dunkin’ Donuts remained as the last retail holdout. The donut shop was in a more modern suburban-style building set back on a triangular shaped parking lot. Referred to as "Punkin’ Donuts" by those who attended shows and shopped in the area, the shop was at the center of a cluster of punk and alternative businesses in 1980s Lakeview, making the parking lot beside the late night eatery the default gathering space for teenagers.
The last remnant of the bygone punk culture scene was a store known as The Alley which also closed recently as the shop prepares to relocate to Avondale. The building at 3228 North Clark Street stands adjacent to the working construction site and itself will become a new seven-story TOD project with 23 apartments and just six parking spaces (three indoor and three outdoor along the rear alley). The historic terra-cotta facade of the existing building dating to the original function as a neighborhood theater, will be preserved as the new structure is built behind it.
· Clark & Belmont Tower Gets Chopped Down To 8 Stories [Curbed Chicago]
· 11-Story Clark & Belmont Apartment Plan Gets Flatironed [Curbed Chicago]
· Demolition Underway at Corner of Belmont and Clark [Curbed Chicago]
· A Better Look at the Transit-Oriented Development Taking Over The Alley [Curbed Chicago]