A vacant lot and an abandoned drive-thru ATM sit in the middle of downtown Evanston’s numerous shops and restaurants. This spring, a 29-story apartment complex will replace them, towering over Davis Street as the city’s tallest building.
The 605 Davis St. tower constructed by Vermilion Development will include 419 apartments, with 84 units designated as affordable housing. Cook County’s Affordable Housing Special Assistance Program designates Evanston as a “low affordability community.”
A November report by the National Association of Realtors found that the median age of first-time homebuyers in the U.S. is now 40, the highest ever, largely due to the lack of affordable housing options. In Evanston, 40% of residents spend more than 30% of their income on housing, according to the city’s website.
Roger Williams, a local realtor and president of Rezoning for a Better Evanston, said his clients, largely Black and Latine homebuyers, can’t afford to live in the city. Instead, he ends up finding homes for Evanston’s teachers, police officers, firefighters and city employees in neighboring suburbs.
“You wouldn’t want to drive an hour into work every day,” Williams said. “Living in Gurnee, you’ve gotta drive in an hour, and in the winter it’s worse. But they can’t afford to live here.”
The Housing Opportunity Development Corporation manages affordable housing options in Chicago’s northern suburbs and holds five properties in Evanston. Executive Director Richard Koenig said that waitlists are long for all of the developments managed by the nonprofit.
“There’s a large number of people who need units that can’t find them,” he said.
When applicants do secure a unit, Koenig said they tend to stay for a long time because of the affordable rent.
Vice President of Rezoning for a Better Evanston Frank Hill said that Community Partners for Affordable Housing reported 906 households searching for affordable units in Evanston as of November.
Right now, Hill said, Evanston is neither integrated nor affordable.
“People are not just up and leaving Evanston because they want to move to Atlanta,” Hill said. “That’s a false narrative. People are leaving Evanston because they can’t afford to live here, and so then they have to decide where to go.”
As an Evanston resident, Hill advocated for the 605 Davis St. development at City Council in November before it was given the green light.
He said the project’s 84 affordable units would help individuals and families struggling to pay the average rent in Evanston, which is about $1,600 per month for a one-bedroom apartment in Evanston and about $2,250 for a two-bedroom, according to Zillow.
“I’ve spoken to medical folks like physician assistants that work in the area and people in the congregation where I’m at who are housing insecure because of the inability to find affordable housing in Evanston,” Hill said.
In the months of public comments leading up to the Nov. 10 City Council vote, residents who opposed the project said the proposed tower was too tall for downtown Evanston. Senior Planner in Evanston’s Community Development Department Sam Hubbard oversaw the 605 Davis St. project through the zoning approval process and said that height is often a sensitive topic.
Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) voted against the project’s construction, largely due to its height and potentially negative impact on the local economy. She said that the building is “just overbearing” for downtown and relies on extreme zoning variances.
“We’ve seen developments go up and fail and kill blocks and kill economic development,” Kelly said before the vote. “That’s what I’m concerned about.”
Weinberg junior Neil Arora volunteers for Abundant Housing Illinois, where he said he’s had conversations with other volunteers about Evanston’s history of discriminatory housing practices.
He said the 605 Davis St. lot has been empty for five decades. Even though Vermilion Development is receiving a tax abatement for developing the building with affordable units, the 605 Davis St. tower stands to reap more tax benefits for the city than an empty lot.
For Arora, the combined benefits of affordable housing and additional tax revenue for the city justify supporting the project.
“Discussing with members of other nonprofits as well as those from Abundant Housing Illinois has helped inform the racial lens I take for affordable housing, and generally has encouraged me to stress the importance of affordable housing policies,” Arora said.
While 84 affordable housing units are significant, Williams said the 605 Davis St. project is only “a drop in the bucket.” Rezoning for a Better Evanston’s mission is to legalize multi-unit housing across Evanston to create options for residents of all income levels and slow the outmigration of Black residents from Evanston.
With hopes that the 605 Davis St. building will combat Evanston’s affordability problem, the lot is beginning pre-construction surveys. Geotechnical testing was completed at the beginning of the month, according to the city.
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— 605 Davis proposal advances after lengthy City Council debate over community benefits
— Cut down in size, 605 Davis secures introductory City Council approval
