WICKER PARK — Eight modern condos are coming to an empty lot across from Wicker Park's Jose de Diego School, despite objections from members of a community group who say the building does not fit with the vintage character of the block.
A zoning change needed to build a 4-story, 8-unit residential building from Claremont Condos LLC at 1300-1302 N. Claremont Ave. was approved by members of the City Council last month.
Read plans for the building, which would have car and bike parking, here.
On Friday, a representative for Claremont Condos LLC declined to talk about the project, outside of saying that all of the units will be 3-bedroom and cost "approximately $600,000."
Construction on the new homes would likely begin in the spring, according to Raymond Valadez, chief of staff to Ald. Joe Moreno (1st).
Ed Tamminga, chairman of the Wicker Park Committee's preservation and development subcommittee, said that the developers' requested "up-zone" got "rammed through" by Moreno and all the work and input that the community members did with the developer, who'd introduced the project in July, was "for naught."
"We are currently trying to arrange legal assurances that the building will be marketed as condos and not become rental units," Tamminga said, adding, The developers "claim they made some modifications to get the design more in character" with the block.
"They look like medical offices," Tamminga said of the rendering.
The project was first introduced to the neighborhood group over the summer, initially as a blue-tinted glass and concrete building from Red Architects, who tweaked the design several times before arriving at the final iteration, which features gray brick and dark opaque glass.
The first design, which was significantly changed after community group input. [Red Architects]
Tamminga said he got an email from Valadez on Nov. 17, informing the group that the zoning had gotten approved the day before, on Nov. 16.
Valadez told Tamminga that Moreno "did not share the same misgivings of the Wicker Park Committee pertaining to the proposed B zoning designation and the architectural plan details."
"He strongly believes that the larger-sized units at these long-vacant lots are a good fit for the community. These units should attract families, who will hopefully be supportive of the school across the street. The larger units will also address [the Wicker Park Committee's] stated concerns regarding developers whose projects are trending to more and more smaller, micro, studio or one-bedroom units," Valadez said in an email to Tamminga.
The vacant lot where the condos will be built sold for $1.02 million on Dec. 29, 2015 to Niles-based Daiva Malukas and Tatiana Nowak, county records show. Malukas and Nowak are also the two partners behind Claremont Condos LLC.
Jacqueline Menoni, president of Jose de Diego School, which is across from the empty lot, wrote a letter on Nov. 14 in support of the project.
"It is quite likely that these larger units will be occupied by families seeking to live in our community. It is my hope that some of these families would decide to enroll their children at our school," Menoni said.
Tamminga said that "There is nothing at all to prevent the developer from deciding the building will be rental when it is completed."
"Rentals bring an entirely different demographic into the neighborhood than if the units are owner occupied with families who will become members of the community," Tamminga said.
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