Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Old Town Luxury Condo Developer Seeks to Repurpose Public Plaza

By Paul Biasco | December 8, 2014 5:37am
 The plaza that the Belgravia Group is seeking to repurpose.
The plaza that the Belgravia Group is seeking to repurpose.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Paul Biasco

OLD TOWN — The developer of a luxury condominium building broke ground on the project in Old Town Wednesday morning, but a question of what to do with a plaza in front of the development remains.

The question that arose at a meeting between the Old Town Triangle Association and Belgravia Group, the developer, is whether or not the space is a park or plaza and what to do with it.

Community members argued that the space is a plaza and is essential during the neighborhood's Old Town Art Fair, the largest event of the year in Old Town.

The developer argues that the space was "tired" and needed renovation.

"Frankly, it needs some work," said Jonathan McCulloch, vice president of Belgravia.

 Renderings of the condominium development that is under construction at Wisconsin Street and Lincoln Avenue.
Renderings of the condominium development that is under construction at Wisconsin Street and Lincoln Avenue.
View Full Caption
Belgravia

The seven-unit development at 328 W. Wisconsin Street is taking the place of a former strip mall.

The condominiums, which the developer said have all already sold, are priced between $1.799 million and $3.199 million, according to a listing on Belgravia's website.

The three- and four-bedroom condos in the four-story building range in size from 2,520 square feet to 4,333 square feet.

The area in front of the development site is deemed a plaza by the city and connects Lincoln Avenue and Wisconsin Street. It is also where the neighborhood places the stage for the art fair.

The developer hopes to team up with the Old Town Triangle Association to renovate the plaza, but some members of the neighborhood group were skeptical of plans presented at a meeting Tuesday.

Belgravia presented a plan that remove the brick and granite paving in the plaza and replace it with a more narrow sidewalk with plantings and grass on either side of the sidewalk.

The developer stressed that he would save 11 of the 12 trees in the plaza, with the only exception a crabapple tree nearest the construction site.

The group estimated the project would cost $100,000, and Belgravia said they would provide up to $50,000 to fix up the space.

Some residents said plantings and parks in other parts of the neighborhood have failed, and questioned who would care for the plants.

"It seems to me this doesn't fit the look of the Triangle very much at all," said Rick Rausch, president of the Old Town Triangle Association.

David "Buzz" Ruttenberg, founder of Belgravia Group, said he understood the comments at the meeting and would move forward treating the space as a plaza versus a park.

Ruttenberg said the group expects to start working on the space in the late fall 2015.

Whatever is decided would require approval by the Chicago Department of Transportation.

"My expectation is that the Old Town Triangle would take the lead in the planning process," said Ald. Michele Smith (43rd).

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: