Over the years when developers have come to build in Evanston, residents have not welcomed them in the least, said Bill Harwood, a resident of about 80 years, at a Seventh Ward meeting Wednesday.
“(We) Evanstonians have to relax a little, not just always say no and let Evanston continue to be run down,” Harwood said.
But many of about 100 Seventh Ward residents at the meeting were visibly agitated as developers from Evanston Prairie I LLC spoke of a proposal to create a 55-unit condominium at 1700 and 1722 Central Street.
Because they plan to build more than 25 units, the developers are required to seek a planned development from the Evanston City Council and prove the proposal would provide a public benefit.
Representatives from the company said their proposal would include additional retail space on Central Street, generating tax revenue for the city. They also would create extra off-street parking spaces for both the retail and residential units.
The proposed design, which is five stories tall and loosely U-shaped, also would make the streetscape more attractive and provide green space and landscaped gardens, said John Crocker, a principal developer.
“The perception will be that it’s Grandma’s garden,” said Ryan Kettlekamp, a landscape architect for the proposal.
Many residents said they were not impressed. Some said they were concerned that such a development, where units would sell for an estimated average of about $350,000, would only add to the gentrification they see occurring in Evanston. They said they haven’t seen enough lower-income housing going up in the city.
“There’s a wave of discontent right now (because) so many housing developments in Evanston are for the upper class,” resident Una Malkinson said.
Malkinson warned developers that neighbors have strongly opposed proposals like this in the past.
“The neighbors in this community do not give up,” she said.
But Ald. Elizabeth Tisdahl (7th) said there were developments on the table before the Evanston Planning and Development Committee aimed at lower-income tenants. One proposal would build 27 affordable rental units at the corner of Church Street and Darrow Avenue.
That building, proposed by the Housing Opportunity Development Corporation, a nonprofit developer specializing in affordable housing, has seen resistance over the past several weeks from neighbors who said it would increase crime and decrease nearby property values. The Evanston Plan Commission voted to recommend that the City Council reject the development.
Residents at Wednesday’s meeting said they did not see the value of having such a tall building on Central Street and questioned the value of retail spaces that would extend up to the sidewalk.
Assistant City Manager Judith Aiello said Evanston needs pedestrian traffic generated by street-front stores.
“You want the opportunity for small shops,” she said.
Aiello said all the recent developments in Evanston would create a stronger tax base and hopefully stabilize taxes for residents in the future.
“These units have been sold out as fast as they are going up,” said James Wolinski, Evanston’s community development director. There are only 17 units left unsold in Sherman Plaza, the 253-unit, 25-story building under construction along Davis Street between Sherman and Benson avenues.
He told residents it was important to note that for the most part, underdeveloped properties were being built up into condominiums, not “fine buildings.”
Still, residents asked why improving land use had to be equated with high-density condominiums.
“Is there nothing in between?” asked resident Margaret Rosenfeld. “We’re going from A to Z all the time.”
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