An Evanston committee last week recommended going out for bids on a prime piece of downtown property located behind the Evanston Public Library.
Members of the city’s Economic Development Committee on Wednesday, Aug. 24, were in favor of staff seeking bids for the city-owned property at 1714-1720 Chicago Avenue, a site commonly referred to as the “Library Parking Lot,” because of its location behind the main public library.
Once bids are in, officials hope to have a recommendation for City Council on a project in time for the Nov. 15 City Council meeting.
City officials approached the council in July about the possibility of marketing the Chicago Avenue property, currently a surface parking lot.
In previous years, the 32,000-square-foot lot — tucked between the Woman’s Club of Evanston and Frances Willard House — had generated interest from developers for mixed-use office/residential, performing arts, housing and hotels, staff reported.
However, recently, interest in office development for the site had increased as the city’s office vacancy rate declined and the demand for Class A office space increased, staff reported.
The development of a new office building on the site “would help satisfy this demand, create jobs and generate real estate taxes,” said Martin Lyons, assistant city manager, and Paul Zalmezak, the city’s senior economic development coordinator, in a memo.
Zalmezak told the committee that any proposed project would have to meet other conditions.
“We’re looking for a for-profit use and ownership,” he said. “We want a high-quality design, something contextual that respects the neighboring buildings — that is the Willard House, Woman’s Club — and we want those 74 public parking spaces replaced on the site.”
Also, officials are looking for offers approximating the city’s listing price of $5 million.
Ald. Ann Rainey, 8th, asked about the city’s focus on office use.
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“How certain are we that’s the right thing to do?” she asked.
Zalmezak said the city took that approach because of the need for new office space.
“We lost a few companies that kind of reached their capacity in Evanston and they’ve gone to Chicago,” he said. “And we’ve done OK because the university spins out small businesses that fill those spaces.”
Right now, “we’re aware of one downtown user that is looking to expand its corporate headquarters and would like to do it in Evanston,” he told committee members.
In addition, he said officials have received a number of calls over the past few months from private developers, seeking help from staff to help identify sites that might be available for office development.
Ald. Judy Fiske, in whose downtown First Ward the site is located, said her support for new office space goes beyond the immediate revenue such a project would bring the city.
“To me it’s what we gain is having another office building downtown,” she said. “As a small business owner, I can tell you that small businesses really depend on shoppers coming out of their office buildings and staying and spending their money in the community on their lunch hours and before or after work.”
At the same time, she appreciated staff’s use of the word “contextual” in their request for bids — taking into account a building compatible with not only Woman’s Club of Evanston and Frances Willard House but other residences in the area.
The proposal the city selects “has to look right” or it has the potential to destroy the whole block, she said.
During resident comments on the issue, Louise Knight, chair of the board of the Frances Willard Historical Association, suggested officials consider an alternative use, drawing on Evanston’s history of accomplishments by women.
“There is a vision that is possible for this property, and that would be a park honoring the womens’ history of Evanston,” she said. “So we have the Willard House on one side, the Woman’s Club of Evanston on the other side. It’s already halfway there.
She said parking could be built underneath a park, which could honor the accomplishments of Evanston women, including the town’s first women mayors and other figures.
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