Alderman Melissa Wynne, 3rd Ward, will hold a neighborhood meeting on Thursday, June 23, to give residents and businesses the opportunity to learn more about the potential development at Main Sttreet and Chicago Avenue in Evanston.
Alderman Melissa Wynne, 3rd Ward, will hold a neighborhood meeting on Thursday, June 23, to give residents and businesses the opportunity to learn more about the potential development at Main Sttreet and Chicago Avenue in Evanston.
“This will be a critical opportunity to make suggestions to the development team on the look, feel and character of this building before this project enters the formal development process at the city level,” Wynne says.
OMS, LLC, the development team, will be present with drawings and renderings illustrating the proposed development and will take feedback from residents, merchants and others familiar with the area on how to make this building a landmark for the Chicago-Main shopping district.
The development team has been working since the property on the southeast corner of the intersection was purchased in December 2010 to plan and build one of the first mixed-use retail-office buildings in Evanston in nearly ten years. The last office building went up in 2002 at 909 Davis St. downtown.
“We have had the opportunity get familiar with the Main and Chicago neighborhood over the past year as we have worked to plan and develop the best building at this uniquely positioned property,” said OMS partner Greg Merdinger. “The feedback from people most familiar with site — whether it is residents, businesses or other stakeholders — will help our team deliver the most modern office building to Evanston and the greater North Shore.”
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary School, 910 Forest Ave.
Wynne says the city has been working to create new work and play opportunities adjacent to Metra and CTA stations.
Evanston is an attractive place for office workers coming from Chicago and the rest of the North Shore via public transit, Wynne says, and a key to future economic development success is to expand office developments beyond downtown to other parts of town.