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Loyola 'L' Stop Plaza Finished, Four-Story Apartment Building on the Way

By Benjamin Woodard | September 4, 2013 3:31pm
 The Loyola "L" Station Plaza was completed this summer, and an adjacent four-story apartment complex is under construction.
Loyola L Plaza
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ROGERS PARK — A new plaza at the Loyola "L" station has been completed, and an adjacent four-story apartment building with street-level storefronts — bankrolled by Loyola University — should be completed by next summer.

The plaza, outfitted with benches and light posts, marked the conclusion of a $20 million renovation of the CTA Red Line station, said Ald. Joe Moore (49th) in a newsletter to ward residents.

Moore said Wednesday that Harris Bank, which formerly occupied a one-story building that was torn down to make way for the plaza, would return to a storefront in Loyola's 41-unit building alongside "a sandwich shop" next summer.

The university, which owns the property and will manage the building, continues to negotiate with prospective tenants, said Wayne Magdziarz, the university's vice president of capital planning.

Loyola says it's invested $18 million into the station, the new building and the improved pedestrian crosswalk on Sheridan Road.

"It's certainly a lot safer," said Moore, recalling the previous crosswalk that ushered pedestrians over four lanes of traffic and past support columns of the train viaduct.

After years of construction, Loyola's Institute of Environmental Sustainability and a student dorm will open Friday in the 6300 block of North Kenmore Avenue. The university and Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) are seeking City Council approval to vacate the public street in the block for a pedestrian walkway and bike path.

Magdziarz also said recently that the university was still evaluating whether to lease land to a developer to build a hotel on the southwest corner of North Sheridan Road and Albion Avenue, just east of the Albion Apartments that the university erected this year.