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19th Century Cottages Being Razed, Replaced With Luxury Homes in West Town

By Alisa Hauser | November 30, 2015 6:02am
 Two cottages at 2123 and 2125 W. Erie St. in West Town.
Two cottages at 2123 and 2125 W. Erie St. in West Town.
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DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser

WEST TOWN — The buyers of two neighboring 1880s-era cottages in West Town plan to demolish both properties and build luxury homes, a plan that some neighbors say will disrupt the block's character and make it difficult for middle-class families to afford homes on the street.

"Those [cottage] homes are too little, too small, it's hard to do anything, the foundations are very bad. Nobody wants them but yes, unfortunately, it will change the character of the block," said Maria Whipple, a real estate developer who plans to demolish a cottage at 2123 W. Erie St.

Whipple bought the cottage at 2123 W. W. Erie St. in August for $382,000, records show.

This spring, Whipple said she plans to tear down the home and build a new single-family luxury home that will cost more than $1 million. No further information is available for the home, which Whipple said will be sold through agent Ivona Kutermankiewicz.

Next to Whipple's project, Realtor Beth Gomez's client, an individual buyer and not a developer, put a cottage at 2125 W. Erie St. under contract and plans to buy that home early next year.

"My understanding is that they will demolish [the cottage] for a new custom home," said Gomez on Friday of the home, built in 1885 and described as having "vintage charm" in a listing.

Gomez said homes located south of Chicago Avenue cost significantly less than properties in Wicker Park, and buying in West Town is a good opportunity for people who want to live near the Eisenhower and Kennedy expressways and Metra stop at Western and Grand avenues.

Mitchell School, a high-rated CPS school at 2233 W. Ohio Ave. that draws students from homes bound by Hoyne, Western, Grand and Chicago avenues, has been a draw for young families too, Gomez said.

But the changes are not sitting well with everyone. JW Glass, a computer programmer who has lived around the corner from the Erie cottages for 22 years, described the row of nine similar homes, all built in the 1880s, as "likely the most architecturally significant buildings in our neighborhood."

"They are visually stunning mostly due to the scale of the nine cottages all in a row, on one of the few blocks that hasn’t had multiple over-scaled and out-of-character new construction," Glass said.

Last week Glass and about 20 neighbors from the West Town Neighbors Association discussed the future of the homes, located between 2119 to 2137 W. Erie St., at a meeting with Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26th), Glass said.

The homes are just west of Damen Avenue and in an area served by the new neighborhood group, which formed last year so residents can better team up when it comes to local issues, including preservation and development.

On Friday, Maldonado did not respond to requests for comments on neighbors' efforts to preserve the cottages. Glass said Maldonado was "supportive and understood the real things that bubbled to the surface."

"It's the real estate Wild Wild West down here. We are not anti-development. But affordable housing — as in could a family of teachers move into the area, or older people — all of those issues came up along with the cottages," Glass said.

About a block west of the cottages, a two-unit apartment building at 2221 W. Erie St. that sold for $365,000 in Sept. 2014 was replaced by a luxury 5-bedroom home that's listed for sale for $1.4 million.

Pam MacPherson, a Realtor who is trying to sell the home, said it "had interest right away."

"That whole area, Erie, Huron and Superior, is on the up-and-up, and we are seeing a lot of increase in multiple homes within the $1 million and $1.4 million price range," MacPherson said.

So far, young couples from the city, restaurateurs and people in the finance industry have toured the home, MacPherson said.

When asked about the fact that some neighbors are concerned about how the luxury homes are impacting the types of people who live on the block as well as its architectural character, MacPherson acknowledged that the home is "a higher price point and luxury" but said a newer home will raise everyone's property values.

"It's truly good for everyone else" on the block, MacPherson said.

The city's Historic Resources Survey, which is a starting point to see if a home has any historic value, includes just one of the nine Erie Street cottages, a home at 2137 W. Erie St.

Eric Hanna, who has lived in a 130-year-old house across from the cottages since 2004 pointed out that at least one of the homes had been on the market for several months.

"I have no evidence of this, but since no one purchased these cottages to live in, it seems like there are few buyers at this level — what I would consider affordable housing for this neighborhood lately," Hanna said.

Hanna, who said he is not really "in strong support of either side" said that the skyline of the neighborhood will definitely change again if two new contemporary towers are built. He said that the two new homes will probably make the street feel more changed than all previous new construction, because the buildings will be isolated among the nine original cottages on the south side of Erie Street.

"One of the best things I think a developer could do is to understand that since there is not one contemporary-styled structure on the block, perhaps they should consider what type of style is appropriate for the neighborhood and position their investment as something people consider inviting and cooperative instead of brutal and impeding. Their buyers want to make friends, after all," Hanna said.

Five of nine cottages in a row along the 2100 block of West Erie St. in West Town. [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]

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