First came Church Street Plaza. Next was Church Street Station. On Friday, Evanston was introduced to Church Street Village.
Developers presented the latest proposal to transform a part of this thoroughfare to about 30 neighborhood residents at a meeting at the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave. Evanston-based Cyrus Homes plans to tear down the Edward Hines Lumber Company store, which closed about four months ago, and build 42 town houses on the site. The property at 1613 Church St. takes up about 1.6 acres, slightly less than one square block.
Before they open the units to the public, the developers will offer them for sale to teachers, police officers and firefighters, so that they have the “pick of the litter,” said Cyrus Homes President Walter H. Kihm Jr. At the meeting, Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) requested other city employees also be given preferential access to the homes.
The units will be scattered throughout eight buildings, each three stories high, so the ones facing the street will resemble historical row houses. They will be set about eight feet from the sidewalk and have wrought-iron fences out front.
“We’re working on a Philadelphia row house kind of look,” Kihm said. “There is a historical nature in this neighborhood, and we’re trying to fit that.”
The approximate breakdown of the town houses include 30 2-bedroom units and 12 3-bedroom units. They will vary in size from about 1,800 to 2,200 square feet. Each unit will have one or two covered parking spaces on the first floor and two-and-a-half baths. They will sell for $360,000 to $420,000, said Ron Fleckman, president of Cyrus Homes.
“It sounds like a lot of money, but try looking at anything else that is new in this community, and you can’t come close to that,” Kihm said. “We’re not trying to build the slums of tomorrow. We really want to be proud of that.”
The luxury features will include brick construction, hardwood floors, granite countertops in the kitchens and tiled bathrooms, said Lynne Heidt, a Coldwell Banker real-estate agent who will market the homes.
Some of the neighbors at the meeting said they were worried about the scale of the project and that it might worsen the area’s parking problems.
“To fill it up so much with 42 families, that’s a lot,” said Petra Fey, a Feinberg School of Medicine biologist who lives on Davis Street, across Mason Park from Church Street. “Developers try to squeeze as much as possible in that space, but to me it’s too dense.”
Kihm said a study concluded the development would not have a detrimental effect on traffic, and there will also be 14 off-street guest parking spaces.
James Wolinski, director of Evanston’s Community Development Department, said city staff supported the town houses.
“It’s nice to see some development on the west side, especially on Church Street,” Wolinski said. “We think it’s a good project that will help the neighborhood and also help the tax base of the city.”
Wolinski added that there was some risk involved with the project, because directly west of the site is the Onyx garbage transfer station, 1711 Lyons St.
Jean-Baptiste said he is looking for ways to have Onyx move its trash operations out of the city.
“This project is an incentive for us to take even more progressive action,” Jean-Baptiste said. “Their involvement is part of the general push on behalf of the community on the west side of town to bring more quality development.”
The developers said they hope to start construction early next year and begin occupancy next fall. The entire complex will take about 18 months to build. First, they’ll need to go before the Evanston Plan Commission, where their hearing is scheduled on Dec. 14. If the project is approved, it will then move to Evanston City Council for final consent.
Reach Greg Hafkin at [email protected]
