Auto Row along Chicago Avenue in Evanston is driving out of town.
Once the home of a multitude of car dealerships, Evanston is down to just four. Many have moved farther out in suburbia to giant auto malls with high visibility on highways or interstates.
Chicago Avenue, though, is not standing still. Redevelopment includes several new residential projects. One of them is the 811 Chicago Avenue Residences, an eight-story condominium building now under construction.
Focus Development Inc. is erecting the 62-unit structure on the site where a storefront and car repair garage once stood.
Now topped out, the brick structure is expected to be ready for the first residents in late November, according to Tim Anderson, president of Northfield-based Focus Development. A model is scheduled to open in October.
Eleven floor plans are offered. Nine of them range in size from 896 to 1,618 square feet and in price from $100,000 to $234,300. Indoor heated parking is included in the price.
Two other condos include a 698-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bath unit, priced at $99,700; and a 1,983-square-foot penthouse. Base-priced from $305,450, the penthouse is a three-bedroom, two-bath corner unit.
The lakefront is within walking distance, and transportation on the CTA and Metra is nearby.
While Chicago Avenue still is primarily a commercial street, Anderson believes more residential development will occur.
“People want to live in Evanston because it’s a mix of urban and suburban,” he says. “But the car dealerships are no longer a good fit.”
James Wolinski, director of Evanston’s Community Development Department, said three new residential projects already are on Chicago Avenue, and “we’ve had a lot of inquiries about others.”
“The condo market is hot in Evanston, and Chicago Avenue is ripe for redevelopment, but we don’t want to create a canyon of high-rises.”