LINCOLN PARK — A luxury condominium developer has gotten approval to tear down a public parking garage that neighbors said is a needed resource in their crowded area.
The city approved a demolition permit on Tuesday for Buddy's Parking, 2036 N. Clark St., a popular parking spot for locals and tourists alike, neighbors said.
The site will be turned into a 65-foot-tall, 10-unit condo building, the developer, Robert Krupa, said in a previous interview. Condos will range from $1 million to $3 million, he said.
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With the garage's impending demolition, the area will lose 225 parking spaces, although the condo development will include 28 spaces, Kupra said.
Some neighbors argue that countless residents in the area depend on the garage, which they say is the only one of its kind on the busy, tourist-heavy stretch near Lincoln Park Zoo and Park West.
Laura Slubowski, who manages a historic building across the street at 2000 N. Lincoln Park West, said losing the garage will "negatively impact all of the buildings around [there] that don't have their own garage."
She estimates that at least half of the 195 tenants in her building pay for monthly passes to park in the garage.
"There's nothing else around here," Slubowski said. "People are up in arms about it."
Kupra said the garage is usually about 60 percent full, though neighbors said it seems much fuller than that.
Though Kupra said the parking garage will be torn down, his team is planning to save the building's historic facade, which dates back to the early 1930s.
Work on the site is expected to being this month, Kupra said. It is unclear if he has received the zoning approval needed for the project. Renderings from the project have not been released.
"It's going to be a beautiful addition to the neighborhood," he said.
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