LINCOLN SQUARE — Wintrust Bank has turned over a portion of its parking lot to developers, adding one more site to a growing boom of mixed-use housing-retail projects slated for a half-mile stretch of Lawrence Avenue.
Plans for the Wintrust property, filed with the 47th Ward office, are for a $1.5 million new construction mixed-use building at the corner of Lawrence and Claremont avenues: nine housing units with an entrance at 4805 N. Claremont Ave., three ground-floor commercial storefronts in the 2300 block of West Lawrence Avenue, and a parking garage for 11 cars.
The four-story building tops out at nearly 60 feet at its highest decorative point, as indicated in architectural drawings.
The construction is "by right" and did not require zoning approval, according to Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th).
The Wintrust project is one of five developments proposed for Lawrence Avenue in the last 12 months.
In total, the projects would bring more than 230 new housing units to the stretch of Lawrence between Western and Ravenswood.
The coming boom includes:
• Condo-retail at 2232 W. Lawrence Ave., replacing Farmers Garden Market. Approximately 12 housing units. A zoning change request for this property has been approved.
• Apartment-retail, including 59 housing units, at 2150 W. Lawrence Ave., replacing Surpless, Dunn & Co. A zoning change has been approved.
• Renovation of the Lawrence Avenue Sears building, 1900 W. Lawrence Ave. The project calls for 40 apartments and more than 32,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor. Development is "by right" and does not require zoning approval.
• Proposal to demolish the Chase Bank at 1825 W. Lawrence Ave. and replace it with three new structures encompassing 114 apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail. The project is undergoing zoning review.
Seeds for the transformation of Lawrence Avenue were planted with the 2010 announcement of a streetscape project, designed to make the thoroughfare more visually appealing and pedestrian-friendly. In 2014, the Ravenswood Mariano's opened as a retail anchor, followed by Roots Pizza, Band of Bohemia brewpub and The Sixth cocktail bar.
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Wintrust Development On Lawrence by DNAinfo Chicago on Scribd
