The following story should have referred to a development complex as Optima Promenade. The DAILY regrets the error.
Developers at Optima, Inc. proposed a plan for an 18-story condominium on the east side of downtown Evanston in an Evanston Plan Commission hearing last week.
The proposal, named Optima Promenades, would build 175 residential units and commercial space at 1515 Chicago Ave. As a planned development, the Optima Promenades would be exempt from many zoning ordinances.
Such circumvention of zoning laws has elicited concern from residents scrutinizing downtown Evanston’s continuous vertical growth.
The buildings around Chicago Avenue and Hinman Avenue are mostly eight-story apartments, approximately the height that current zoning laws allow, said Suzanne Dupre, who lives directly east of the proposed development. An 18-story building would not be appropriate, she said.
“It’s an extreme inconvenience to immediate residential neighbors,” Dupre said. “(The property) is intended to be a transition zone between the neighboring area and the downtown core. Why would the city permit a high rise building?”
Optima representatives maintained that under Evanston law, zoning exceptions could be granted if the development provides a public benefit. Optima Promenades would provide an attractive architectural design, underground parking, and substantial green space, they said.
“Before we put any pencil to paper we asked the city what they envisioned for the location,” said Aaron Greven, project director. “We’re trying to provide the best building we can for the best location that we can.”
Many residents said they don’t see benefits.
The atmosphere was tense at an informal January meeting between the developer and more than a hundred residents living near the proposed site, said Diane Lequar, president of Hinman House Condominium Association.
“The (proposed) parking garage is going to obliterate the views of the residents on the west end of our building,” Lequar said. “They will go from having a view of downtown Evanston to a view of a parking garage wall.”
Opponents also said the area would suffer from traffic problems because of the increased density of people living there. Delivery cars, UPS trucks and other vehicles already clog the alley where the proposed entrance for the condo’s parking garage would be.
Greven said an independent traffic consulting firm found that the development would not significantly impact traffic because the building is residential, not commercial.
Leonard Evens, a professor emeritus at Northwestern, said he regards the Optima proposal as another development following a current trend where older downtown buildings are being replaced by high-rises. A math professor, Evens has lived in Evanston for more than 40 years and has witnessed the many changes in the downtown area.
“(Recent developments) make an entirely different downtown and give it a different emphasis,” he said.
Evens pointed to the Sherman Plaza as an example of the new and taller style of development Evanston has tended to attract.
“The new building is really oppressive and gives the area around downtown a canyon-like feeling,” Evens said. “It channels winds down Davis Street which makes it difficult to walk on windy days.”
The Plan Commission will hold a special public session to continue discussion about the Optima proposal on March 1 at the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.
Reach Jenny Song at [email protected].
