While high-rise development continues to be a source of hot debate here in Evanston, the boon or bane of such structures is spreading to our western neighbor, Skokie.
Officials there broke ground today for a 12-story mixed-use development on the northwest corner of Lincoln Avenue and Oakton Street.
The 153-unit rental building, called 8000 North, is described as the village’s first new ground-up downtown apartment development in decades.
The project from Greenspire Capital, Pontarelli & Company and Hoffman Homes will include 15,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. An attached garage will have 265 parking spaces for both building residents and the public.
The site was once home to the landmark Desiree Restaurant, with its massive neon sign, in a two-story terra-cotta-faced 1920s-vintage building.
The former Desiree Restaurant building had been stripped of its signage by the time this Google Maps image was taken in 2009.
The village eventually demolished the dilapidated structure and sold the site to the developers for $1.5 million earlier this year.