ANDERSONVILLE — A developer mistakenly got city permits to tear down a single-family home and build a four-story condo building despite efforts by the alderman to stop it from happening at all.
And now, Ald. Pat O'Connor (40th) — who tried to downzone the property and also put a hold on permits for the property — is pledging to fix the loophole that allowed the developer to proceed.
Last August, SustainaBuild LLC, bought the bank-owned home at 5650 N. Ashland Ave. next door to other homes and a vacant lot that the Peterson Garden Project converted into a community garden.
Shortly after, the company knocked down the house and applied for a permit to start construction.
Meanwhile, O'Connor introduced an ordinance to change the property's zoning to conform with most of the lots in the area, which would have allowed only two-flats and single-family homes. In addition, O'Connor said in a statement published on his website that he requested the Department of Buildings place a "hold" on issuing permits for the property at 5650 N. Ashland Ave.
But, unbeknownst to him, the Chicago Department of Transportation had issued the property a new address, 5646 N. Ashland Ave. The developer filed for approval under that address, so the hold was not triggered, O'Connor said.
And even though the ordinance changing the zoning was approved, the developer had already been issued a permit for the other address.
Igor Petrushchak, of ProGroup Development Inc., which owns SusatainaBuild, said he had no idea O'Connor was trying to prevent a development like his from going up on the lot.
"I don’t know anything about the alderman," he said Thursday when reached by phone. "The alderman never reached out to me. This is the first time hearing about it."
Petrushchak said the city issued him the new address when he applied for the permit to build the condos.
"It happens sometimes when there’s an irregular lot," he said. "They tell you, 'This is your new address.'"
A single-family home was demolished to make way for the building. [DNAinfo/Benjamin Woodard]
He said he expects construction to be completed in 8 to 10 months.
The area's neighborhood group, West Edgewater Area Residents, had said they opposed any kind of development there before community input was collected.
If O'Connor had been successful, a change in zoning would have required City Council approval.
O'Connor didn't respond to requests for comment, but said in his statement that he was working with the city to prevent something similar from happening again.
"My office is committed to getting community feedback whenever possible for new construction," he said. "New building permit applications will be watched more closely in the future by my staff, and I will continue to work with the Building Department to put in place safe guards so that something like this does not occur in the future."
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