A community informercial will be held tonight to discuss a proposal to add three affordable and handicapped accessible dwelling units to each of four apartment buildings.
The infomercial will be held Monday, May 8, 2006, 7:00 P.M., Chicago Public Library, Rogers Park Branch, 6907 North Clark Street.
Marty Cerny of Chicago Graystone, his attorney Thomas Moore, and his Architect Garry Shumaker, will present the proposal. If you don't want to attend the infomercial, the new units would be equipped with heated ramps and/or chair lifts, and all bathrooms, kitchens, and hallways in the new units would be accessible. In the blog-world according to Hugh, there is no architect named Garry Shumaker or similar licensed to practice in Illinois. If you don't believe him, look it up.
Under the proposal, the zoning for each property would be changed from their current designations to RM5 to accommodate the construction of three additional units.
The buildings, the existing number of dwelling units, and the current zoning are set forth below:
1900-08 West Farwell Avenue and 6900-14 North Wolcott Avenue, 50 units, RS3.
6964-78 North Greenview Avenue, 26 units, RT4.
7458-64 North Greenview Avenue, 13 units, RT4.
1740-54 West North Shore Avenue & 6702-10 North Hermitage Avenue, 37 units, RT4.
Blognotes:
Can anyone guess how many CPAN units have been given out in Rogers Park since Alderman Moore began his song and dance rountine on affordable housing?
11 comments:
Craig, CPAN is an ownership-based approach to affordable housing. CPAN is subsidized condos.
The four buildings are all rental apartment buildings currently. Moore's press release makes no mention of CPAN or of condo conversion. Do you know something more?
Moore's press release does mention affordability but I think in this context Moore might be using affordable in the sense of "rental" or "not going condo, at least not until we get these extra units built out."
Thanks for the post.
Also at the same address with the same agent are the "limited liability companies" who own the four buildings Moore is selling a zoning change for:
1900 WEST FARWELL LLC
GREENVIEW-LUNT, L.L.C.
7458-7464 NORTH GREENVIEW LLC
1740-54 WEST NORTH SHORE LLC
Also at the same address with the same agent is one of Moore's most generous and reliable contributors:
ACTIVE EQUITIES, L.L.C. dba AE Funding LLC
$1,500.00 on 1/16/2004 to Citizens for Joe Moore
$1,500.00 on 1/16/2004 to Citizens for Joe Moore
$1,000.00 on 10/24/2002 to Citizens for Joe Moore
$1,000.00 on 6/14/2002 to Citizens for Joe Moore
Sources:
Illinois Board of Elections
Illinois Secretary of State
All the LLC's are there because Moore doesn't want us to connect the dots, follow the money, on his legislative-services-for-cash incumbency support plan.
Also at the same address with the same agent:
CASTLEBAR ENTERPRISES, INC., STEVEN GOLOVAN, President & Secretary
CASTLEBAR DEVELOPMENT LLC
And yet another Moore contributor:
Castlebar Operating Trust Account
2636 N Lincoln Av
Chicago, IL 60614
$1,000.00 on 7/16/2003 to Citizens for Joe Moore
Golovan obviously feels passionately about Alderman Moore, even though Golovan's offices are in the 39th ward and Golovan does not live tin the 49th ward.
For some reason Moore prefers not to put Golovan's name on any of Golovan's contributions.
> “I look forward to hearing from the community on this intriguing proposal ...” said Moore.
Moore is $6,000.00 intrigued.
Bring your checkbook and you, too, will be heard.
Golovan is the tear-down leader in Rogers Park and our leading importer of concrete block. Here is a partial list of his tear downs:
1761 W Morse
1763 W Morse
7018 N Ashland
7028 N Ridge
1528 W Greenleaf and the community garden
2054 W Chase
1620 W Estes
For more information on the Golovan family of real estate development companies in Rogers Park, please see
Castlebar Tear-Down Gallery
> ... they are using basement space in existing buildings to build affordable rentals.
> ... why suddenly these people are so concerned about the availability of rental property
When you convert a rental building to condos, the zoning laws in Our Fair City allow you to sell ALL the apartments, regardless of what the zoning sez; the number of units is "grandfathered in." But if you want to ADD units during a condo conversion, then you have to work within the zoning laws; parking requirements, etc.
Try calling a neighborhood meeting to announce 4 of our neighborhood's big apartment buildings are going condo, and, by the way, we are going to build out the basements and add units, you will no doubt hear from the community, "The loss of rental units in our community is bad enough, we can't stop you from converting, but NO to the extra density."
So planning ahead what you want to do is do it in two phases, add as many units as you can while the building is still rental, call it "affordable" or "accessible" housing or something, then later go condo.
> Marty Cerny of Chicago Graystone ... will present the proposal.
Martin J. Cerny is a licensed real estate salesperson in Illinois (source: Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, Real Estate License Look-up). As a RE salesperson, Cerny needs a sponsoring broker. Cerny's sponsor is Kass Management Services, Inc. doing business as Kass Realty Group, Inc. Cerny's position with Kass is confirmed by the Illinois Association of Realtors Realtor Search.
Moore routinely misrepresents the owners of proposed developments in his press releases and in public meetings in order to to obscure his zoning-for-sale business.
Wow! I have never googled my name before this. To my amazement, there are so many comments suggesting underhanded or misleading intentions about the creation of wheelchair accessible units out of unfinished and unused basement spaces in four buildings in Rogers Park.
My time for two years on this has been completely sponsored by Chicago Graystone, who views this as I as a wonderful housing policy. The cost to create these units, sponsored completely by ownership, will ultimately be barely covered by rent collected, so the motivation is not economic. Even if a condo conversion would someday occur, and there is no plan to do so, the sale of such units will certainly not provide for any sort of financial bonanza. The cost, roughly $90,000 per unit, would certainly be recovered from a sale, but not so much more than that that anyone should be concerned about some hidden motivation or scheme to deceive our neighbors. There is just no money in this . . . just good will and public policy.
Recently, it has been suggested that subsidized money from the Low Income Housing Trust Fund might be awarded to these units, allowing us to house the lowest of low income handicapped folks who typically are relegated to nursing homes or homeless shelters.
There is such a trmendous need throughout Chicagoland for this type of consideration, all citizens could find some encouragement in this concept, even if there may be some perceived blemishes. My hope is that other neighborhoods, when presented the opportunity to support building owners in good standing, rally around similar proposals and help a few more troubled families find a healthier living arrangement.
ps. I do not know New City Builders, have never answered my phone other than with my own name only, etc. Hope no one is bothered further.
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