Once a very fancy place to live, North Sheridan Road in the Edgewater neighborhood used to be filled with mansions of a more gilded age. But after World War II, high-rises took over the lakeside strip between the end of DuSable Lake Shore Drive and Loyola University Chicago.
Between 1950 and 1970, most of those mansions were bulldozed. In 1969, for example, a 356-unit building called The Malibu arrived at 6007 N. Sheridan Road. Like its siblings on this strip, the Malibu is known for its amenities, including a 24-hour doorman and a heated pool. But it’s not egregiously expensive. The lake-view high-rises — Malibu East and El Largo are other such buildings evoking North Miami Beach albeit with a far tougher winter — are far more affordable than the buildings on North Lake Shore Drive and, as such, often have attracted seniors looking for a lake view and hassle-free living at a reasonable price.
Historically, many of those condo buyers were Jewish and became part of the Emanuel Congregation, with a synagogue located right by the Malibu at 5959 N. Sheridan Road. But the congregation has now seen a dwindling of its flock. Thus, it has entered into a deal with a private developer, Fern Hill, to redevelop its plot of land, sandwiched between pre-existing high-rises, and build some 600 new dwellings of a variety of shapes and sizes, many of them to be officially deemed as “affordable.”
In essence, Emanuel will, in return, get a new synagogue (plus parking spaces) that will be smaller and more affordable to manage as part of a new high-rise development. Fern Hill will handle the leasing, not the synagogue. One can imagine access to what will essentially be an in-house place to worship will be attractive, especially to seniors of the Jewish faith.
But the project has caused something of a firestorm.
Aside from the NIMBY forces that always accompany such changes in the world of skyscrapers, where views translate into hard cash — if you live at the Malibu and face south, your vista may be less desirable in the future — the issue here pits those who think the development-friendly policies of the past in this area were a mistake that needs correction against a synagogue that wants to ensure its own future and reasonably argues that many of those who oppose its high-rise project actually live in high rises themselves. Just older high-rises.
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One side says access to the George Lane Beach nearby will be preserved; the other, inevitably led by Friends of the Parks, insists it will be compromised. One faction argues that the city should just buy the land and build a park; surely a lovely idea to anyone who lives in the Malibu, for one. On the other hand, the synagogue owns this land and says it has the right to redevelop it to assure its future — among existing, aging high rises that might benefit from new buildings with fresh restaurants, shops and other amenities in their midst.
Who is right? We’re siding with Emanuel here, not least because Chicago is in dire need of housing and this new development would provide hundreds of new apartments with convenient CTA Red Line access. Anywhere that someone wanted to build 600 units would attract opposition; it’s hardly novel for a neighbor facing an adjacent development to advocate for a park instead. And, at the end of the day, Emanuel has owned this land for decades. Plenty of high-rise owners have discovered that views are not guaranteed forever.
Moreover, Emanuel has moderated its plans to assuage objections. Currently, we understand they call for two relatively low-rise buildings on the west side of Sheridan Road, one 12 stories high and the other with 25 floors, along with a smaller building on the other side of the road, which is not exactly a visual joy to behold anyway.
That said, it’s imperative that the beach and lakefront access is preserved; we think the right kind of development could actually improve the visibility of the lake from Sheridan Road and offer an attractive access point.
One final point here. You will not be shocked to know that allegations of antisemitism are part of this debate, even though, to our minds, issues of development and density must be decided secularly, agnostically and without recourse to prejudice. We’ve read some of the coverage of this matter in the News Star, a local publication put out by Inside Publications, and we do indeed see examples of problematic language referencing “money changers in the temple” (seriously?) and making accusations that the Emanuel Congregation is “hell-bent on monetizing their sacred space.”
Dear God. This stuff has no role in a debate about a new housing development.
The News Star should be helping its readers think through a complicated debate, not indulging in antisemitic language to reinforce its point of view.
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