The developer of the proposed 33-story tower at 601 Davis St. now is offering to lease 92 parking spaces in Evanston’s Church Street garage.
Dave Cocagne of Vermilion Development says that arrangment would allow the project to meet the parking requirements of the city’s zoning code.
The development proposal also calls for 176 on-site parking spaces for the 318-unit rental building.
But that would still leave seven site development allowances the project would be requesting from Evanston aldermen, who are scheduled to begin their review of the project at a Planning and Development Committee meeting Monday night.
The project still will require a six-vote super-majority of aldermen to win approval, which appears difficult to achieve, given that last November aldermen only approved the 15-story Albion Residential development on Sherman Avenue by a bare 5-4 majority, after that developer trimmed the size of its project to eliminate the super-majority vote requirement.
City staff and the Plan Commission had recommended approval of the Albion project. They both have recommended that aldermen deny the planned development request for 601 Davis.
Just say no
Just say no.
What a terrible idea!
If you are building a residential building, you need to provide all the parking spaces required. You should not count on leasing them from an already overcrowded parking garage a block away. When Northwestern is in session it’s almost impossible most days to find a parking space in that garage after 8:30 am. Why should residents of another block get spaces in the Church Street garage just because their developer is too cheap to provide them as they should? What about those of us who pay a monthly fee to park there? Are we to get kicked out so this developer doesn’t have to build what they are required to according to the zoning code?
Clarification on parking
What is the real status of parking, esp. downtown garages ?
We have had stories in the past about the parking garages having a lot of empty spaces. Did that change ?
Then the city says there are so many commuters and others that don’t need/want parking—so number of spots in new buildings can be reduced.
Now people complain about NU and others taking up so many spaces and new building need more spaces.
What is true ?
And the Davis Garage rates are increasing
There’s a flyer in the garage that says “due to increased demand.” rates are going up. If you keep leasing bulk spaces to developers then yes, supply will go down and demand is going to go up.
Absurd Idea
The advantages of parking within a building are obvious and expected: inclement weather, convenience, physical constraints. The suggestion of offering [what could become temporary] leased parking a block away in a public garage is absurd.
Thanks Sharon! Would you like to develop the site?
I’m glad that you are knowledgeable about real estate demand in Evanston. Maybe the developer should be hiring you as a consultant since they are putting up millions of dollars of their own money for the project and must not know as much as you about the market.
Set aside the fact that Vermillion has done $200 million in projects over the past few years, you obviously know the market better.
Thanks.for your insight!