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Carmichael's Steakhouse Staying Put, For Now, as Apartment Plan Delayed

By Chloe Riley | March 21, 2014 6:44am
 Plans to build two apartment buildings at the property currently home to Carmichael's Steakhouse, 1052. W. Monroe St., have been delayed, the developer said.
Plans to build two apartment buildings at the property currently home to Carmichael's Steakhouse, 1052. W. Monroe St., have been delayed, the developer said.
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DNAinfo/Darryl Holliday

WEST LOOP — A plan to build two residential buildings on property that is currently home to Carmichael's Steakhouse has been delayed, a developer for the project confirmed Thursday.

Michigan Avenue Real Estate Group had been planning to build 131 rental units in the 1000 block of West Monroe Street, which is where Carmichael's has operated since 1997 in a 67-year-old building, according to the group's proposal before the Zoning Board of Appeals. A landscaped green space on the lot would also be lost.

Tom Meador, a developer for the real estate group, confirmed the group would not be appearing at the April 25 zoning hearing as originally planned.

"We have canceled that meeting and are still continuing to look at our project,” Meador said during a brief phone interview Thursday. The stall came after a request from 25th Ward Ald. Danny Solis, who wanted more of a community process around the development, according to Tom Moore, a lawyer for the project.

The complex sits in an area that will be in Solis' ward beginning in 2015. A spokeswoman from the alderman's office did not immediately return requests for comment.

Moore also said Michigan Avenue Real Estate group plans to extend a one-year lease agreement to Carmichael's.

Carmichael's is owned by Mel Bechina, who also owns Carmichael Truck Repair. The structure was built in 1947.

Bechina did not return repeated requests for comment. But a statement on its website denied the restaurant would be closing.

"In regards to recent rumors about our property, Carmichael’s isn’t going anywhere," the statement said.

The proposal put forth last month included plans for two four-story buildings that take up virtually the entire site at 1050 and 1060 W. Monroe St. Renderings for the two buildings show a small outdoor courtyard near the corner of Monroe and Aberdeen streets.

Armando Chacon, president of the West Central Association, said she spoke to Moore, who indicated Michigan Avenue Real Estate Group planned to consult the community on the project moving forward.

"He said admittedly, they should have come to us first and that they would be doing so at some time in the future," Chacon said Thursday.