Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Development

Sauganash Whole Foods Is Building Parking Where There Should Be Housing

By Michael Podgers | May 19, 2015 | 14 Comments

Sauganash Place, a mixed-use development near Peterson and Cicero avenues, is a strikingly urban element in the eponymous Chicago neighborhood, a quiet, mostly residential community on the Far Northwest Side. Featuring several stories of condominiums with balconies, plus a Whole Foods Market on the ground floor, the building wouldn’t look out of place in denser […]

Hellish Big-Box Proposal Would Nix Traffic Flow Gains From Elston Reroute

By John Greenfield | May 12, 2015 | 48 Comments

There are many productive ways Chicago could use the hump of centrally located, riverfront land that’s becoming available for redevelopment as part of the reconfiguration of the Fullerton/Damen/Elston intersection. The space, currently occupied by the Vienna Beef factory, could accommodate another light industrial business, pedestrian-friendly retail space for local merchants, an apartment complex, and/or some […]

Pritzker Park Sale Is a Chance to Create New Transfer from ‘L’ to Subway

By Steven Vance | May 8, 2015 | 37 Comments

There are several pros and cons of the city’s controversial plan to sell the Pritzker Park site for development. One important and urgent aspect is that it would be an unparalleled – and potentially free – opportunity to create the first enclosed, wheelchair-accessible transfer between the CTA’s Loop elevated lines and the Red and Blue Line subways. […]

Another 207 Parking-Lite Residences Sprouting In Wicker Park

By Steven Vance | Dec 30, 2014 | 6 Comments

Way back in 2012, one developer proposed what was then a radical idea: tearing down what had been a cheesy restaurant and a moat of parking overlooking a faded corner, and replacing them with a gleaming tower housing 99 apartments, two shops, and just 16 car parking spaces. Ever since 1611 W. Division Street showed […]

Parking-Lite Residences Sprouting All Across Chicago

By Steven Vance | Dec 29, 2014 | 27 Comments

The resurgent downtown economy and the growing demand for car-lite living, both in Chicago and nationally, have spurred an apartment-building boom that’s transforming neighborhoods citywide. Many of these apartments are rising along the Chicago Transit Authority’s rail lines, partially thanks to a recent change to the city’s zoning ordinance that has made it easier to […]

Montrose Green TOD Actually Fits Its Neighborhood Just Fine

By Steven Vance | Dec 18, 2014 | 4 Comments

Developer David Brown wants to bring a neighborhood restaurant to a site right outside the the Chicago Transit Authority’s Montrose Brown Line station, along with 24 apartments, a small office space, and 10 car parking spaces. The city’s zoning ordinance would ordinarily require him to fill the entire ground floor of his proposed five-story Montrose […]

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