Next round on Division/Ashland development

By -

It's not a done deal. Developers return this month to Ald. Proco Joe Moreno with alternative plans for the former Pizza Hut site at the southwest corner of Division Street and Ashland Avenue.

Two plans are already on the table for 1601 N. Division. Robert Buono and Paul Utigard on Aug. 15 showed Moreno and East Village Association representatives drawings of a 40-foot glass and steel retail building for PNC Bank, half the height of the MB Financial Bank across Division, and a single-story version they said did not require zoning concessions.

Moreno pressed the developers to add affordable housing, and EVA sought a larger mixed-use building that that better addressed the busy Blue Line pedestrian traffic at the Polish Triangle. Buono said a bigger building presented more permission and construction hurdles. He claimed no bank would finance it, but conceded that he had not presented business plans for such a project.

Both sets of drawings indicated drive-through access in the back of the building. Eastbound-only traffic would turn down the alley shared with Wendy's and exit at Ashland.

Scott Rappe and Neal McKnight of the EVA planning committee will report on the discussions at Monday's membership meeting. It starts at 7 p.m. in the Happy Village, 1059 N. Wolcott.

Business and community comments shared with EVA overwhelmingly favor a larger, transit-oriented approach at the intersection:
Anselmo @properties business card,
Ask Nagel business card.

Popular posts from this blog

Crime puts La Spata on the spot

By -
Image
Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) speaks to East Village Association members June 13, 2022. Weekend gunfire turned a scheduled meeting with Ald. Daniel LaSpata into an hourlong discussion of public safety. Residents pressed the alderman on police response to calls and his own response to violent crime. The June 13 meeting was streamed on EVA's Facebook page . La Spata stated that the number of aggravated batteries and carjackings had fallen in East Village's two beats but a rise of robberies had been "frustrating." In weekly calls with 12th District Cmdr. Beth Giltmier, La Spata said he pushed for Chicago Avenue foot patrols. Residents asked if more street cameras would be installed in the ward, noting that early morning shots fired on their block two days before had no police response for more than an hour. La Spata said cameras were funded from the ward's discretionary "menu money" but he would not commit to funding cameras without consulting Giltmi...
Read more

Ald. Villegas gets to know East Village

By -
Image
36th Ward Ald. Gilbert Villegas meets East Vlllage Association members Sept. 12, 2022 at Roots Pizza. East Village Association membership meeting Sept. 12, 2022, at Roots Pizza, 1924 W. Chicago Ave. Presiding: Dan Johnson, director East Village again is split in Chicago's City Council redistricting. Ald. Gilbert Villegas introduced himself to East Village Association members Sept. 12. In turn, members sounded him out on how he works with community groups on neighborhood issues. The remap pushes Villegas' 36th Ward boundaries east along Grand Avenue from Belmont Cragin into East Village. A West Town satellite office at 2246 W. Chicago Ave. is staffed Tuesday through Thursday. "I ran in 2019 under an acronym that I still use today, which is PEACE—Public Safety, Education Accountability, City Services and Economic Development," Villegas told EVA members before taking questions. "I'm not an alderman that's about defunding the police. I'm an alderma...
Read more