Evanston residents say 15 stories still too high for proposed downtown apartment building

Evanston residents openly pushed back against a proposal for a high-rise apartment building at 1621-1631 Chicago Avenue in Downtown Evanston at a town hall meeting on Feb. 15.

Many residents commented on concerns including the building height and the lack of affordable housing in Evanston.

Updated designs by developer Horizon Realty Group put the building at 15 stories with 140 units comprised of studio, one and two bedroom options with plans for 10 affordable housing units. The average unit size is estimated around 765 square feet. Plans outline retail space on the first floor with below-ground parking and a rooftop pool alongside other amenities.

Previous iterations of the design put the complex 30 feet higher, at 19 stories. The fact that the vehicle entrance crossed the city’s bike lane became an issue for then-members of the City Council, leading to the plan being voted down. The entrance has since been moved to the alley.

Horizon also owns The Merion senior living community which neighbors the proposed high-rise building.

“We’ve put our money where our mouth is. We have a significant investment in this city,” Horizon’s Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Michael said. “We took an old senior home that literally should have been torn down and put $40 million of our own money and completely revamped The Merion. It looks like the Four Seasons Hotel.”

Current tenants at the site, La Cocinita and Best Care Cleaners, are likely to be moved into The Merion, but developers say the deal is not finalized.

Residents said that a building where a majority of the 140 units would be considered luxury, with monthly rent ranging from $2,000 to $3,000 a month, according to the complex website, only adds to the unaffordability of the city.

“I want to be sure that sort of true to Evanston’s values we’re focused on density where it’s needed in order to drive affordable housing,” Laura Crane said. “It does seem like if you were to increase the ratio of affordable housing not just to what code specifies but potentially decreasing your profit that could be somewhat more palatable to the community.”

Michael said previous designs that were higher had 18 affordable housing units but they were lost as “collateral damage” when the height was reduced.

“City staff specifically has suggested to Horizon Realty, in previous reports, that an eight to 10 story building would be an appropriate height. They continued to disregard the input of the public and return tonight with a 15-story building,” said William Brown, chair of the Board of Trustees at the First United Methodist Church, “To suggest that their new plan to lower the building height is a meaningful compromise is disingenuous.”

Forty-year resident Craig Williamson said that Evanston has steadily grown darker as more and more large buildings are erected and increased traffic has made biking in the city dangerous.

Michael pushed back saying the current plan does meet area zoning if variances are allowed on the project by a City Council vote.

“All in all, our currently proposed project is a substantial deviation from what was originally introduced,” Michael said. “Yes, we’ve been at this for a long time, perhaps too long. Perhaps we started with a project that did not align with the desires of the community but here we are now with a project that fits within the contemplated zoning; it will contribute greatly to the local economy and it’s beautiful.”

Michael also said that the complex would provide various benefits to the city including $10.3 million in revenue over 13 years and hundreds of thousands in initial property tax income while not requesting any funding from the city. Horizon has also offered to revamp the alley behind the site which has fallen into disrepair, under the condition that other neighboring property owners contribute.

The project goes before the Land Use Commission on March 8. The commission will give a recommendation for approval or denial to City Council and the Planning and Development Committee.