by Hugh
1839 W Touhy Ave
PIN 11-31-201-008
5866 square feet of lot area
Another tear-down of a frame single family home in RT4
John Majic
Kit Development
7435 N Ridge Blvd
Chicago, IL 60645-1960
(773) 973-7310
This project is similar to the Relu Stan project around the corner in the 1900 block of Estes, in that both projects are single-lot special zonings in the middle of blocks that neighbors thought they had downzoned to protect against exactly this kind of thing ("Ald. Moore reverses neighbors' down-zoning").
The Alderman giveth, and the Alderman taketh away.
3-story, 5-unit luxury condo project in the middle of a block of greystone 2-flats.
From the Neighborhood meeting, Wednesday 1/25/05
Neighbor's Downzoning Ignored
The first question of the evening, after the first sentence of the presentation, was "Didn't we downzone this area?" Neighbors said that they recognized the potential threat of this lone frame house in the middle of a block of greystone two-flats, and the possibility of a project like this on this site was their main motivation for their downzoning effort.
Michael Land, Moore's zoning staff person, claimed he wrote the downzoning petition and this property was not on it. Unclear is what the neighbors who circulated the petition and signed the petition thought was happening. Land gave a long litany of Moore's downzoning efforts. "By and large, you will see fewer and fewer of these projects in residential areas," Land said. Way to sell it, Michael!
Notification
The second question of the evening, after the second sentence, was about notification. A neighbor said the only way they found out about the meeting was from their brother-in-law. Land claimed they flyered the south side of the Touhy (the side of the street with the subject property) and the north side of Estes (behind the site across the alley). "I'm surprised to see you here," Land told some neighbors from Estes. In his wrap up comments, Land said, "Thanks for coming out tonight to learn more about this project in your neighborhood, or, in some of your cases, not in your neighborhood."
Architect Presentation
An "architect" from Iuro & Associates presented the project.
Neighbor 1: Before you developed these plans, did you study the other buildings on the block to see if this building fit in?
Architect: No, we didn't look at the other buildings on the block.
Neighbor 2: You didn't? I would think that would be one of the first things you would do.
Architect: No, these plans are based on other buildings we have done.
Neighbor 1: You never even looked at the rest of the street?
Architect: No, I haven't got out to that neighborhood yet.
Anthony Iuro, Stamp For Hire
The Official Architect of the 49th Ward (R)
The architect for this project was also the architect for the Rich Aronson/Robert Coe Pinewood project down the street, across the street in the 2200 block of W Touhy.
Neighbor 3: What is your boss' name?
Architect: Anthony Iuro.
Neighbor 3: Has your boss ever been disciplined by the State of Illinois?
Architect: No.
Moore Fact Check:
In 1996 Anthony Iuro was placed on 2 years probation and fined $3,000 by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for "Allegedly affixing his seal to house plans which were originally drafted and sealed by another architect."
Chi-Town News version.
4 comments:
hugh-
nice work connecting the dots. this type of helter skelter "urban planning" really must be corrected.
this ward needs a comprehensive controlled development plan that includes architectural, density and design detail guidelines as a framework, so that we can all understand the true impact all present and future development will have on our neighborhood.
does anyone know the point at which this development will permanantly alter the social, architectural and economic character of our neighborhood? No. No one knows.
once that threshold is crossed, it will be difficult to reverse the result.
This house needs to be torn down before it falls down. That said, I think it's sad that no one bought the property to re-develop as a single-family home. Those few blocks on Touhy between Clark and Ridge have been trying to turn around. They are full of modest but nicely kept houses (excepting a few sorry looking ones). This, in my view, is a little different than the 1600 block of Estes which has had many multi-unit buildings on it for years. The south side of the street, in particular, is mostly single-family dwellings (or 2-flats).
Paradise -- your view of turning all these single family homes into multi-unit buildings will run families out of the community. Families want houses, not condos. They want a yard for the kids, their own nest. Young couples will move here for a time til the kid is a certain age at which point they will flee to the burbs. We will have a transient community like Lincoln Park or wherever, such a community will not have any memory and will vote for whatever aldermanic candidate looks nice at the moment without regard for their track record or history. Thus it will be easier to get high rises built on Sheridan and any other kind of development. If the residents of this community don't demand that their political leadership help bring in business that provides jobs for modest income people and don't help to preserve single family housing then you will get Lincoln Park or Lakeview or whatever. RP used to be (not sure if it still is) one of the most diverse communities -- racially/ethnically and economically -- in the entire U.S. That will change in a decade if our business and housing base doesn't adapt to serve lower middle class FAMILIES, who, btw, tend to appreciate that that Great Satan Walmart does not stock porn and other material not suitable for CHILDREN. There are no shortage of places where any of us can go to get all the things that WM doesn't stock. Besides which the businesses that stock those things (books, magazines, cds) that WM doesn't sell benefit rather nicely from the arrangement.
It is simply nonsense to say that people can't afford SF homes in the city anymore. Yes, they can! There is lots of modest, affordable housing throughout the city (and sf homes that cost considerably less than most northside condos). The question is whether you want to live in those areas or not. When we bought in RP it was not only affordable but some might say an incredible bargain. But it was what we could afford and we took a big risk (most people told us we were insane to buy here in '91), and for at least 7 yrs our property didn't appreciate one iota, and if we had had to sell it would have been at a loss if you factor in the improvements. Such is life. Were I in the same place today as I was 15 years ago I would be looking at Kenmore/Englewood area. Maybe parts of Beverly. I would be looking at the "insane" areas because I accept that I would not be able to afford LP, WP, RP, etc. Saying that SF housing in the city is unaffordable is like saying SF housing in Evanston is not affordable. If you don't have the financial resources for a million dollar house, THAT part of Evanston is unaffordable but that doesn't mean there isn't affordable housing for someone of lesser means right down the road (west of Greenbay, for instance). Is RP SF housing priced higher than it was 10 yrs ago? Yes, thank goodness but I contend it's more about limited availability than anything else. This 'hood was the last inexpensive north side lakefront 'hood so if you have a family and want a SF home that is bigger than a LP row house, then RP was pretty much your only option. The houses have been bought by these types or have been torn down. Less sf housing = higher prices. Yes, we've seen appreciation due to robust real estate market and some change in the 'hood but mostly our appreciation has been about demographics and limited availability. Prices in the city where availability is higher (because there is more of it or less of a desire to live there) are considerably lower. Just like they were way lower in RP 10 years ago when there was more availability and less interest in living here.
On schooling, Paradise, I think we can agree. When houses were priced under $500k families could easily move here and send kids to private or parochial schools. Now that most houses sell well in excess of $500k, it's a tougher sell for a family that then has the added expense of tuition. If you're going to spend that kind of $, then Lakewood Balmoral probably looks like a better option. I really don't have a problem with development, per se, and in most instances I see it as a good thing. My overarching concern is that we are creating more multiunit buildings with multiple future landlords (slumlords?) that will be more difficult to chase down than single-owner rental buildings. As the real estate market softens and as I see some of these condo buildings sit ENTIRELY or almost entirely empty, I worry about the future. You may complain today about the cost of SF housing in RP but tomorrow you may be complaining about plummeting real estate values for all housing. And that would be bad for those of us invested in the community. Row or townhouses may be an alternative but given that developers want to maximize their $, it's probably an unlikely scenario.
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