Massive University of Chicago dorm complex among projects seeking city approval

A decade-long plan from the University of Chicago to construct a 1,300-bed residence hall on the corner of Woodlawn Avenue and 61st Street is looking to take a key step forward this month. Known as the Woodlawn Residential Commons, the multi-building complex is ready to seek approval from the City of Chicago ahead of a planned 2020 opening.

Chicago City Clerk

The project is just one of a number of developments appearing on the Chicago Plan Commission’s newly released draft agenda for the month of March. The group is set to vote on the proposals at its monthly meeting scheduled for March 15.

Looking at the lineup, the South Side residence hall will be joined by a 16-story rental tower slated for 1624 W. Division Street near Wicker Park’s Polish Triangle. If approved, the 121-unit building from DM Development and Wallin Gomez Architects would rise right next to the similarly-sized Wicker Park Connection project.

The Plan Commission will also vote on a nine-story apartment development at the corner of Sedgwick and Schiller in the Old Town neighborhood. Designed by Brininstool + Lynch, the transit-orientated plan would replace a vacant lot with 105 apartment units and 37 parking spaces.

Brininstool + Lynch

For the West Loop, the group will vote on a 10-story, 166-unit rental building proposed for 1220 W. Jackson Boulevard and a measure approving the conversion of the landmarked Church of the Epiphany into an event space. Meanwhile, a 21-story office tower at 360 N. Green Street from Sterling Bay and Gensler is back after being deferred at last month’s meeting.

The group will also consider a Lakefront Protection Ordinance application allowing a six-story, 35-unit development at 2317 N. Clark Street in Lincoln Park and a Planned Development application for a shopping center at 4635 W. Foster Avenue in Chicago’s North Mayfair neighborhood.

• Chicago Plan Commission March 2018 draft agenda [City of Chicago]
• Chicago Development News [Curbed Chicago]