RIVER NORTH — A prominent Chicago developer pitched neighbors Tuesday on a new River North apartment tower it wants to build while preserving a century-old church next door.
The John Buck Company envisions a 24-story, 245-unit tower at the southwest corner of Franklin and Illinois streets, a parking lot currently owned by Assumption Catholic Church. After reaching an agreement with the friars overseeing the parish, the developer now must seek the blessing of neighbors and Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), who hosted Tuesday's meeting on the proposed project.
"By our developing the property and keeping our church in great shape, we are saying to you the long-term commitment to the community is something we plan to continue," said the Rev. John Fontana of the Order of Friar Servants of Mary, which owns the project site. "We're excited for the project."
Dubbed 3Eleven, the FitzGerald Associates-designed tower at 311 W. Illinois St. would be mostly one-bedroom and studio apartments and include street-level retail, a fifth-floor dog run, and a top-floor amenity lounge with a pool and gym. The tower would also include 109 indoor parking spaces, 35 of which would be sold back to the church.
Buck would also spruce up the church's courtyard gardens and its priory, a 53-year-old building housing Assumption offices and clergy. And the developer would provide lighting for stained-glass windows on the east end of the church, which would sit right next to the new tower.
A rendering of the church's revamped priory and gardens. [McBride Kelley Baurer Architects]
The tower's glassy facade is a "bold, modern design that reflects the modern architecture throughout the city," FitzGerald President Michael De Rouin said. Fontana said the church chose Buck, a prolific developer that's currently building an apartment tower at 200 N. Michigan Ave., for its property after interviewing "a number of" candidates.
If built, the tower would join the record number of new apartments underway Downtown, many of them in River North. Some neighbors at Tuesday's meeting expressed skepticism over the project's design and its impact on traffic and nearby views.
Reilly, whose ward includes the project site, reiterated that Buck's presentation was merely a proposal, and that he already privately nixed one of the developer's previous ideas with another architect.
"It was ridiculous," Reilly said. "It looked like a sculpture more than a building. A really bad sculpture."
The church was built in 1886, but is not landmarked. Dominic Adducci, a Buck principal, said construction would last more than 1½ years once approved.
He said the project has a "preliminary agreement" for financing, but declined to disclose the development's cost. The tower would eventually contribute about $800,000 annually in new property taxes, he said.
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