Developers of two large residential projects and an office building will ask Evanston’s City Council this month for extensions of time to begin construction of their projects.
The requests for delay were disclosed in the city manager’s weekly report issued late Friday.
The projects seeking extra time to start work are:
- The Emerson, a 16-story age-restricted apartment building with 152 units planned by the Housing Authority of Cook County at 1900 Sherman Ave, adjacent to HACC’s existing Perlman Apartments.
- A five-story building at 1012 Chicago Ave. on the site of the Autobarn Nissan dealership, with 116 dwelling units.
- An 18-story office building with ground floor retail at 605 Davis St.
The HACC development was initially approved by City Council on Nov. 23, 2020, as a 168-unit development. A redesign to address foundation issues with the Perlman building that cut the size of the new structure to 152 units was approved by the council on Dec. 14, 2021.
The project has been expected to provide a major boost to inclusionary housing efforts in the city with 37 deeply subsidized units and an additional 14 “missing middle” units for people earning close to the area median income.
The city code requires that that developers begin construction within a year of the approval of a planned development requests but permits the City Council to grant extensions of time to begin the work at its sole discretion.
City Council approved the 1012 Chicago Ave. project, from MCZ Development on Oct. 11, 2022. Its plans include 10 on-site affordable units under the city’s inclusionary housing. ordinance.
It was not immediately clear what is prompting the requests for delay for the residential projects, given high occupancy levels across the city for new rental housing developments.
But with the slow return of workers to downtown office jobs — leading to high vacancy rates in existing office buildings, the request to delay the 605 Davis office tower is probably unsurprising.
City Council approved Vermilion Development‘s plans for the 605 Davis project on April 26, 2021. The developer said the building would provide work space for about 950 people who would add to the customer base for downtown restaurants and retailers.
However another downtown office project appears to be moving forward.
The Trammell Crow Company last month applied for a building permit to begin construction of its 10-story life sciences office building on the former Burger King site on the southwest corner of Orrington Avenue and Clark Street.
In doing so it provided an updated address for the development of 710 Clark St.
City Council had approved that project on March 14.
I continue to stress the need for Wind Studies for any and all new high rise construction in Evanston.
Existing newer developments, ie, 1737 (?) Chicago Ave, the high rise rental building south of Whole Foods, have created very dangerous wind tunnels for pedestrians. I have almost fallen on a variety of occasions.