PILSEN — Pilsen and University Village residents will come together Monday night in an effort to create a development plan for a site that borders the two neighborhoods.
The meeting, which aims to develop a plan for the vacant 7.85-acre site between 16th and 18th streets and Newberry Avenue and Peoria Street, will kick off at 6 p.m. Monday at La Catrina Café, 1011 W. 18th St. in Pilsen. All neighbors are welcome to attend.
In an announcement, organizers said that the community meeting aims for consensus between neighbors about how the land should be developed "so we can present a united front to the folks with actual influence as discussions continue."
The event is not sponsored by a specific organization and will be moderated by urban planning scholars from the University of Illinois at Chicago and DePaul University.
Earlier this month, Ald. Danny Solis (25th) announced plans to rezone the property, blocking the developer's planned redevelopment of the massive site.
The move came after developer Property Markets Group announced in April that it would still develop the property without a zoning change. Developer Noah Gottlieb said that the group would still buy the site, and instead of 500 apartment, a smaller mixed-use project would be developed that meets the site's current zoning rules.
The developers came to that decision after the Pilsen Land Use Committee nixed their plan to build 500 apartments at the site in February. The sticking point that led the committee to deny the 500-unit project plan was Pilsen's stringent affordable housing mandate, which requires any development of eight or more units and that requires a zoning change must provide 21 percent affordable housing on site.
"Unfortunately the developer did not show good faith,” Solis said earlier this month. “I have always taken affordable housing very seriously and this property must abide by this requirement to win the approval of the community.”
Solis introduced the ordinance to rezone the property from residential to its original industrial use on April 26. The Committee on Zoning will vote on the proposed change June 2. If the rezoning ordinance passes the committee, which Solis chairs, it will go to City Council for a full vote.
The current property cannot accept any new permits while undergoing the zoning change, a Solis spokesman said.
In Spring 2015, Property Markets Group revealed plans to develop 500 apartments on the vacant Pilsen property. The developer wanted a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units at the site.
The site is owned by The Midwest Jesuits, who bought the land for $6.5 million in 2009.
In May 2015, Pilsen Alliance protested the Midwest Jesuits' planned sale of property in front of the Roman Catholic order's headquarters, calling the plan "gentrification on steroids."
Meanwhile, some University Village neighbors who live nearby are pushing for the long-vacant site to be developed soon. About 100 people have signed a petition in favor of developing the site.
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