NOBLE SQUARE — The developer of Logan Square's "Twin Towers" shared renderings of a proposed 12-story, 34-unit luxury condo building overlooking the Polish Triangle at a community meeting on Wednesday.
The project details were announced in July; preliminary renderings of the building were revealed on Wednesday at the Pulaski Park Neighborhood Association Meeting in Near North Montessori School, 1434 W. Division St., Curbed reported.
Developer Rob Buono, of Henry Street Partners, is finalizing a plan to buy the Fifth Third Bank at 1209 N. Milwaukee Ave., as well as a parking lot behind the bank at 1220 N. Bosworth Ave. that houses a shuttered drive-through window.
Chad Pendlay, real estate manager for Fifth Third Bank, confirmed that bank, which owns the 70-year-old bank building and the parking lot behind the bank, is in talks with Bouno to sell the bank and the parking lot.
The Fifth Third bank branch, which opened in 2007, would remain at the site as part of the redevelopment, Pendlay said.
The proposed Noble Square condos, a mix of two and three-bedrooms, would be located behind the bank just north of the underground CTA Division Blue Line L stop. The tower would be designed by Chicago-based Wheeler Kearns Architects.
There would be 52 parking spots and a few extra off the alley that will be for the bank or guests of residents, according to Kapra Fleming, president of the Pulaski Park Neighbors Association and one of 17 neighbors who attended the meeting.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), who would need to OK an "up-zone" for the lot at 1220 N. Bosworth Ave. was not at the meeting. Hopkins said on Thursday that he was waiting to hear more feedback from the community, particularly from members of the Noble Square Homeowners Association and the Pulaski Park Neighbors Association.
"I'm keeping an open mind until I hear from the community," Hopkins said.
Fleming said that only a few of the folks who came out on Thursday were from the 1200 block of North Bosworth.
"Those who came from the 1200 block [of Bosworth], they seemed resigned to the fact that they did not feel like they had much of a say. That was the feeling. The woman who owns the building adjacent to the parking lot was concerned about the amount of light that she will be losing," Fleming said.
The rest of the group, however, was mostly receptive to the plan.
"We like the fact it is not another Transit-Oriented Development. We have always thought we need more family-oriented units. It's a huge building, but the way they are orientating it on the space is not as obnoxious as it could potentially be," Fleming said.
Nearby, Buono also built the city's first Transit-Oriented development, an 11-story, 99-unit apartment building at 1611 W. Division St. on the south side of the Polish Triangle.
Buono is also wrapping up completion of Logan Square's "Twin Towers" on Milwaukee Avenue.
Buono did not respond to requests for comment.
Prior to the meeting, Fleming said that the pricing for the homes that was discussed was around the $1.2 million mark. The building would feature two elevators and three units per floor. The exterior materials have not yet been decided. The renderings shown were white architectural models.
Curbed reported that if everything goes as planned, Henry Street Partners would like to see the project completed by mid-2018.
The bank's parking lot and site of the proposed condo tower. [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]
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