EDGEWATER — A "toned-down" version of six-story apartment building planned for 6145 N. Broadway got support from neighbors who voted for the project at a community meeting Thursday night.
Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) and officials behind the project held a final meeting with Edgewater residents to present revised plans on the development that significantly reduces the number of apartments, better blends the sizes of the units, reduces the number of parking spaces and makes changes to the 31,000-square-foot building's facade.
Osterman said since developers first announced the project to the community, which would require demolishing a single-story car wash and cellphone store, most of the feedback his team has received centered around the building's large number of studios and physical appearance.
Original plans called for the project to include 187 apartments, more than 80 percent of which were studios, along with 60 parking spaces.
The development now calls for 45 parking spaces and 105 apartments — broken down into 45 studios, 40 one-bedrooms and 20 two-bedrooms.
On the ground floor is a 3,700-square-foot commercial retail space.
Developers from City Pads LLC and Catapult Real Estate Solutions LLC have said the building is targeted at illennials, who they said tend to prefer common spaces over apartment space, hence the earlier plans for more studios.
That goal still exists, albeit with a more even spread of apartment sizes, attorney Rolando Acosta said.
Osterman assured residents the dwellings were "not Loyola dorm rooms."
Communal areas in the building will include a private outdoor patio and place to grill, as well as a fitness area.
Rents — $1,200-$1,300 for studios, $1,600-$1,800 for one-bedrooms and $2,000-$2,100 for two-bedrooms — have remained the same, an aspect developers first pitched as "high" rent similar to other studio-heavy buildings like it in Logan Square.
Ten percent of apartments will be set aside at an affordable rate in accordance with city ordinances, though developers are no longer required to do so because the building would have fewer apartments.
Though developers said they want to market toward millennials, they are still hoping for long-term tenants — an issue residents brought up at community meetings hear.
"Between area residents and myself there were some concerns around long-term stability, and trying to have a balanced amount of housing for different types of people in the community," Osterman said. "I asked for a more balanced project that I think will be a stable building for a long, long time."
They also hope the development's proximity to the Granville Red Line station, just 190 feet, will discourage drivers and encourage the use of public transportation. The building's proximity to the station qualifies it as a "transit-oriented development" in the eyes of the city, meaning it is allowed to offer far fewer parking spaces than normally required of a building of its size.
Of those in attendance, only two of 34 residents voted against the project.
Osterman said he expects to announce next week if he will support the project.
If approved, Acosta said his team would likely begin construction in early 2018 and finish in late spring or early summer 2019.
A rendering of the revised plans for 6145 North Broadway, showing a new facade. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
