Five West Loop developments top Chicago Plan Commission’s January agenda

The agenda for the first meeting of the 2017 Chicago Plan Commission has been released and—not surprisingly—projects in the city’s red-hot West Loop dominate the January lineup. Though a final vote by the full Chicago City Council is required for all zoning changes and Planned Developments (PDs), the monthly meeting of the Plan Commission gives an early glimpse of upcoming real estate projects. It also provides members of the public with a chance to testify for or against any given proposal.

Here’s a look at what’s set to be heard on January 19th:

801 West Lake Street

GREC

↑ Originally conceived as an extended-stay hotel development, 801 W. Lake was reintroduced to West Loop neighbors as an office building. The proposed building is slated to replace a surface parking lot at the southwest corner of Lake and Halsted. The 240-foot industrial styled building was penned by Chicago GREC Architects for the development teams of Shapack Partners and Focus Development. The project will contain 48 parking spaces and ground floor retail.

900-10 West Washington Boulevard

Northworks

↑ Developer TARIS Real Estate revealed its slightly updated plan to build a 10-story luxury condo project at 900 W. Washington Boulevard back in August. Officially dubbed 900 West, the project is designed by Northworks and would replace a single-story commercial building with 22 pricey, multi-bedroom residences. The development’s parking has come down slightly since this summer’s meeting, reduced from 24 to 22 spaces.

1115 West Washington & 19-27 North May

Booth Hansen

↑ Located just steps from McDonald’s upcoming West Loop corporate HQ, developer Peerless Real Estate Investment plans a pair of nearly identical 9-story, 28-unit condo buildings straddling an existing low-rise structure at the corner of Washington and May. Designed by Chicago’s Booth Hansen Architects, the twin masonry- and glass-clad developments would each contain 42 parking stalls. link

170 North Green Street

HPA

↑ Deferred at last month’s meeting, the redevelopment of Fulton Market’s Bridgford Foods will present its heavily revised design to the Chicago Plan Commission this month. The HPA-designed project now features a 17-story, 192-foot-tall building containing ground floor commercial space, 322 rental units, and parking for 250 vehicles. The Planned Development (PD) application also calls for a seperate five-story boutique commercial building across the street at 171 N. Green.

1056 West Lake Street

Solomon Cordwell Buenz

↑ Known commercially by the address of 210 N. Carpenter, a 13-story proposal from developer Sterling Bay and architecture firm SCB is back after being deferred in December. Anticipated to accommodate the suppliers and vendors expected to follow McDonald’s to the area, the building would contain primarily office space as well as accessory parking and ground floor retail. Specific opposition to the project prompted the creation of yet another West Loop resident group hoping to restrict future building height in the hot near-downtown neighborhood.

While new West Loop developments overwhelmingly dominated the January agenda, a handful of projects in other neighborhoods will also go before the Plan Commission seeking a thumbs-up. They include a twice-deferred Planned Development application from LG Development for a 12-story River North condo building at 61 W. Erie as well as an amendment submitted by Laramar Group clearing the path for two new low-rise buildings at 1720 and 1818 N. Halsted in Lincoln Park.

FitzGerald Associates

NORR

Additional items on the agenda include a five townhome development at 1800 W. Warner Avenue in Ravenswood and an application submitted under the Chicago Lakefront Protection Ordinance to construct a five-story, ten-dwelling building at 2035 N. Orleans in Lincoln Park. An amendment to an existing Planned Development to allow a new 18-stall parking lot at 400 E. 33rd Street in Lake Meadows will also be heard by the Commission.

• January Plan Commission Agenda [City of Chicago]