The Evanston Land Use Commission voted against a proposed 31-story, 430-apartment residential building in downtown Evanston on Aug. 27 at the end of a five-hour meeting. The tight 3-4 vote reflected concerns of some on the commission, who cited concerns about the building’s height, the wind effects it would cause for pedestrians and loss of property tax revenue as reasons for voting against it. The proposal still heads to the Evanston City Council for final approval or rejection.
The 331-foot building at 605 Davis Street would be the tallest residential building in the Chicago suburbs. It would provide a more-than-required number of units at affordable rates in order to get a tax break, but critics say that would reduce revenue to local schools. It features a smaller parking garage than typically allowed by city code, with 80 parking spots for its 430 units. The developer is looking to lease an additional 120 parking spaces from the city.More Top Picks Best Saw
Wednesday’s meeting was the third time this summer that developers from Vermilion and Campbell Coyle presented their proposed development to the Land Use Commission. The project has received mixed reviews from Evanston residents, ranging from business owners interested in seeing more people downtown to long-time residents concerned about how the development could impact traffic, parking and the overall character of downtown Evanston.
Neighbors residing at the Residences of Sherman Plaza, located at 1600-1620 Sherman Ave., requested and were given a continuance to challenge the developer’s proposal at the Wednesday meeting.
Campbell Coyle President Chris Dillion commented at the meeting, “Downtown Evanston cannot be preserved for only those who are already here. We need to make room for everyone.” That was a reference to the city’s long-term goals for more affordable housing and for more dense housing downtown. “If we’re serious about being an inclusive, sustainable and thriving city, 605 Davis contributes to that vision.”
Commission Max Puchtel, the first commissioner to speak during an hour-long deliberation session for the project, spoke in favor of the development. “I think it makes sense for downtown development for all the reasons articulated in the (application) packet. I have confidence in the expertise and components and their team,” he said. He added a friendly suggestion to make the building more energy efficient.
Commissioner Brian Johnson asked city staff what they could do to increase on-street parking spaces for the building. “Delivery vehicles parking in travel lanes is an absolute plague in Evanston, in Chicago, in any urban place. The proliferation of Grubhub, Amazon, Uber, moving trucks… the residents that will drive to this building that have off-site parking… unload their purchases and then drive to the parking garage… we’ve got to go up at least four lay-by (parking) spaces.”
In his deliberation, Johnson said the proposed building is too big and tall for what the city’s zoning code allows. “This project, in sum, is asking for too much from too many different type of site development allowances,” he said. “The project has merits, but it’s just too much in this iteration.”
Commission Loren Berlin, who voted in favor of the project, pointed out that the developers already own the parcels of land on 605 Davis Street. “We’re speaking to the people who own it, and they’re telling us what they want to do with it.”
“We’re not going to shop this piece and see what other people want to bring. We’re saying, the third time they’ve come to us, offices obviously don’t make sense post-Covid, so residential makes sense,” she said.
Previously, the developers proposed a 33-story mixed use development for the same site in 2019, but were turned down by the city, according to previous reporting. The developers came back in 2020 with plans for an 18-story office building, and received the City Council’s approval, a week before the pandemic hit.
“Not the best time to try and lease and market a new office building,” Dickson told Pioneer Press.
“When it comes to this piece of land, I kind of feel like we go big or we go home,” Berlin said. “We don’t get a chance like this very much to put a lot of units of housing into our town in one project.”
Commission Chair Jeanne Lindwall voted against the proposal, citing that it far exceeds the city’s zoning code, which it is allowed to do because it complies with the city’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance.
“The fact that it exceeds the height, substantially, is problematic for me, and I don’t plan on supporting any project in downtown that exceeds those generous site allowances,” Lindwall said.
“I would be most comfortable with a building about half this size; that’s kind of where I am,” she said.
Plans call for the proposed development to rent 86, or 20%, of its units at affordable prices, slightly exceeding the city’s inclusionary housing ordinance’s requirements. Doing so enables the developers to receive a property tax cut offered by Cook County.
For the first 12 years after the development is complete, the building owner will pay 60% or less of the building’s assessed property tax value. For the 18 years after that, they will pay 80% of the assessed value. After that time period is over, the property tax bill must be paid in its entirety.
The developer’s anticipated use of the tax break has irked First Ward City Councilmember Clare Kelly, who previously called the tax break a multimillion dollar loss to the city.
Commissioner Darush Mabadi also spoke against the tax credit, despite being in favor of the building itself.
“I don’t have problems with developers making as much money as possible, it doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is who’s paying for it, and it feels like the Evanston School District will pay for it, because we need more revenue, and because of the way that our affordable housing platform is created, and with the county involved, it makes this type of development very attractive to developers.”
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The city’s Planning and Development Commission, made up of six City Councilmembers, is scheduled to vote on the project at its Sep. 29 meeting, according to the city’s Community and Employee Engagement Coordinator Jessica Mayo. The commission will need to vote on it before it heads to the City Council, but because the City Council is the determining body, the case will travel to the Council regardless of the commission’s recommendation.
Shawn Ursini, a senior building database manager with the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, supplied Pioneer Press with a table showing the heights of the Chicago area’s tallest buildings. It shows the tallest buildings are office towers in Oakbrook Terrace, Itasca, Schaumburg and Evanston (Orrington Plaza). At a proposed 331 feet, 605 Davis would exceed the height of suburban Chicagoland’s two tallest residential buildings, Sherman Plaza and Optima Towers in Evanston, at 276 and 265 feet, respectively.