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Ain't development Grand?
By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER
Editor
The future
of Grand Avenue is in limbo with neighbors, business owners
and the alderman in disagreement about whether the strip
will go residential or industrial.The stretch of Grand
running from Ashland to Western is gap-toothed with empty,
trash-strewn lots and foot traffic is low in many areas. It
includes light industrial and commercial buildings on both
sides of the street and some residential space on the north
side.Grand is a block north of the 675-acre Kinzie
Industrial Corridor, an area that claims more than 2,000
industrial and manufacturing businesses. Kinzie is in a
planned manufacturing district, a city designation that
forbids residential development.
The Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago, which represents
hundreds of businesses in the industrial corridor, began
promoting a plan in 2004 to restrict residential development
on the south side of Grand. The north side would include
ground-level commercial and second-floor residential
development.
ICNC
executive director Joyce Shanahan said the change would
establish a buffer zone that puts enough space between
industry and residents to prevent conflict. It also aims to
ensure a smooth flow of traffic for nearby businesses."Our
whole goal was to keep Grand Avenue from becoming
high-density residential," she said, noting that homeowners
and renters often dislike the noise created by industry.The
Chicago Grand Neighborhood Association rejected the rezoning
proposal in early 2006, saying that it would discourage the
establishment of restaurants and retails shops on
Grand.David Ramos, president of the Chicago Grand Neighbors
Association, said the buffer street for the industrial
corridor should remain a block south of Grand on Ferdinand
Street.All parties seem to agree the uncertain future of the
street has slowed development of any kind. Neighbors living
on Grand and in the neighborhood to the north say the lack
of foot traffic along the strip makes the area a magnet for
street crime because no one is watching the area."This is
one of the things that our neighborhood organization has
been saying, that we need to rebuild Grand Avenue, it's a
ghost town. Anything can happen here," Ramos said.
Ramos said
he envisions the transformation of Grand with shops and
restaurants like Chicago Avenue and Division Street to the
north. He said that if the area includes residential
development, people "should know what they're getting into."
Judith Mayzel has lived on the 2100 block of Grand since
1991. Last year she was mugged by kids at gunpoint in front
of her home in the middle of the day.She's fighting her own
battle over a development across the street from her home
that has been under construction since 2005, she said.
Construction crews began digging in fall 2007, leaving a
hole encompassing roughly three city lots and filled with
muddy water. Graffiti on the building adjacent to the hole
reads "RATS." "That's been there since last fall," she said.
"I'm embarrassed to have people over." The lot was empty and
mainly consisted of garbage and abandoned cars prior to the
hole, she said. Mayzel said she's trying to get the city to
fine the company for not completing the project.
Rob Federighi, an attorney representing developer DIM GC,
Inc., said the excavation is for underground parking for a
mixed-use development with 30,000 square feet of retail
space on the ground floor, office space on the second floor
and a third-floor penthouse with a restaurant or more
offices.He said developer Cheslav Yakonski is hoping to
attract national retailers and restaurants for the first
floor. Federighi said he believes that it's unique for a
developer to step forward with such a proposal considering
the uncertainty surrounding the corridor's future. "You hope
that developments like this spark more developments," he
said.Twenty-sixth Ward Alderman Billy Ocasio said Mayor
Richard J. Daley supports protecting the industrial
corridor, and Ocasio plans to rezone the south side of the
corridor to allow industrial and commercial businesses."Once
you make the south side of Grand condos, you start losing
industrial businesses," he said, adding that the ICNC must
form a plan for what kinds of businesses they hope to bring
to the south side of the street. "Who are we going to
attract, more industrial or commercial businesses? I just
want someone to present me a plan. I don't want to go
through this process of downzoning and then there's no plan
of action."
CONTACT:
timinklebarger@chicagojournal.com
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