Logan Square apartment and retail development cleared for construction

A week doesn’t go by where there isn’t news regarding new construction and development in Logan Square. And within the last week the developer CRG, a subsidiary of Clayco, has received formal permission from the city to begin constructing what will ultimately become a seven-story mixed-user at the southwest corner of the Milwaukee and Armitage intersection.

Located near the Western Blue Line station, the new development falls under the city’s transportation-oriented development ordinance which allows the developers to reduce the number of parking from the typically mandated 1:1 ratio of parking spaces per residential unit. The upcoming development for the site will contain 134 apartments with just 16 parking spaces. In addition, the development will feature 7,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space.

Not without controversy, the development received an aesthetic makeover during its planning phase which incorporated the facade of the John Ahlschlager-designed structure which was located at the site. Built in 1907, preservationists launched a campaign last year to have the building saved. Last month, crews were spotted at the site demolishing the historic building. However, the developer has since clarified and vowed to rebuild the structure and include it in the facade of the new development.

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Update: CRG’s communications lead has reached out to offer some clarification and their firm’s views on the John Ahlschlager-designed Weyland Building which stood on Milwaukee Avenue before it was removed last month.

“While we respect and appreciate the work of Logan Square Preservation, the Weyland Building is not a historic building,” CRB comms director Brittany Burke writes via email. “It is not on the City’s historic register and it is not orange-rated. However, it is a really old building with a façade the neighborhood group wanted to save. We’re glad to do that.”

• New construction permit [Chicago Cityscape]
• Controversial Logan Square Building Gets Construction Permit [Chicago Architecture Blog]
• Developer vows to reuse historic Milwaukee Avenue facade in Logan Square TOD [Curbed Chicago]