EAST VILLAGE — A 16-unit condo building could be built behind a 1920s-era Ukrainian Dairy that was saved from demolition four months ago due to community outcry and opposition led by Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd).
Just east of the Damen and Augusta intersection, the dairy building was most recently a Leona's restaurant that closed last year.
Monday night, members of the East Village Association voted 14-4 in favor of the redevelopment by Sedgwick Acquisitions, a venture backed by Wicker Park-based MCZ Development.
The condos will each be three bedrooms and about 1,500 square feet, according to renderings by Space Architect's Ramiel Kenoun. A rooftop deck and balconies, plus private yards for two duplex units, are part of the plan.
An 1890s-era two-flat that the dairy was built around would need to be demolished. So far, there are no plans for the commercial storefront where Leona's previously operated.
Renderings presented at Monday's association gathering at Happy Village, 1059 N. Wolcott Ave., show that the design keeps the dairy’s facade and uses it to conceal a private 14-foot-wide yard that separates the building from the proposed brick five-story condo building on the back of the lot.
There are 16 parking spaces on the ground level and eight bicycle spaces.
The project does not require a zoning change.
While the association has approved the plan, it still needs to get the green light from the Landmark Commission. In November, the Commission approved razing the current structure over the objections of Hopkins and the association.
After the meeting, Todd Mullen, a project manager for MCZ Development, said he was pleased with the reaction from the community.
"We think we have a good compromise," Mullen said.
Brian Foote, the chairman of the association's Planning and Development Committee, said he was thankful the developer decided to save the dairy building.
"We are appreciative that the developer chose to work with the community and found ways to preserve some of the neighborhood’s past history in their new project," Foote told Our Urban Times.
View MCZ's plans for the site, below.
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