EDGEWATER — Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) has announced his support for a six-story, 105-unit apartment building along North Broadway at the site of a current auto body shop.
"After receiving overwhelming support from the community in a vote at last week's meeting, I am in support of this development moving forward," the alderman told residents in an email last week. "I think this will be a solid development that will bring vibrancy to the Granville and Broadway area of our community."
Last month, the majority of residents at a community meeting voted in favor of a "toned-own" version of the original 6145 N. Broadway project, which had included more than 80 percent of its units as studios, an extra story and a different 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.
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 retail space.
Developers from City Pads LLC and Catapult Real Estate Solutions LLC have said the building is targeted at millennials, 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."
A rendering of the revised plans for 6145 North Broadway, showing a new facade. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
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 here.
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.
If the project is approved by the City Council, Acosta said his team would likely begin construction in early 2018 and finish in late spring or early summer 2019.
