WICKER PARK — Plans are underway to demolish an 1870s-era home and replace it with a four-story condominium building anchored by a storefront at the southwest corner of Le Moyne and Ashland avenues next to Schwa restaurant in Wicker Park.
Last week, members of the Wicker Park Committee voted 23-3 in support of a zoning change that would enable real estate firm DB Develops to raze the existing home and build a new mixed-use residential and commercial development at the site.
Sara Barnes, a lawyer for Aleksandra Dubovik, a DB Develops partner, presented the project's details to the Wicker Park group, whose members supported the redevelopment, which will not occur until the sale of the home — under contract since April — gets finalized.
"It's an appropriate development for Ashland Avenue and it's out of the [Transit-Oriented Development] area, so we don't have that issue going on," said Ed Tamminga, chairman of the Wicker Park Committee's Preservation and Development subcommittee.
Tamminga was referring to the fact that the neighborhood group in recent months has given the green light to many new high-density developments near CTA Blue Line stations that offer several dwellings and little or no dedicated parking spots.
Tamminga said the existing 1,210-square-foot, one-story building "doesn't make much of a contribution to the neighborhood" and the site needed a zoning change because it is a very small lot that is only 80-feet deep as compared to most city lots that are 125-feet deep.
To be designed by Axios Architects, the new condo building will feature a masonry and glass exterior. The first floor will house a storefront, likely to be occupied by DB's real estate office, Barnes said.
The upper three floors will each offer one two-bedroom condo, about 1200 to 1400 square feet each, per floor. The back of the building will have three parking spots.
Real estate agent Robert Safranski, who is selling the home on behalf of its longtime owners, said he hopes a finalized sale will happen within the next few months.
The home is owned by Juan and Rachel Oliva and is 137 years old, according to county records.
Safranski said his clients have lived on the block for many years.
"The seller had been there a long time. It was a corner spot and that's hard to find," Safranski said.
A real estate listing describes the home, located at 1468 N. Ashland Ave., as "a rare chance to purchase in a prime location for under 400K!" The home has an asking price of $349,000.
A rendering of the proposed development at 1468 N. Ashland Ave. [Wicker Park Committee/Andrew Miller]
The back of a home at 1468 N. Ashland Ave. that's for sale for $349,000 [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]
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