BUCKTOWN — A proposal to build a five-story, 32-unit Milwaukee Avenue apartment complex, with almost all of the units studios, is moving forward after much debate.
Bucktown resident Gerhard Zinserling voiced concerns about the proposed building at 1665 N. Milwaukee Ave. at a community meeting Thursday, arguing that it had too many apartments and lacked amenities that would improve quality of life and persuade renters to stick around.
Ultimately, though, a community group and alderman threw their support behind the plan to attract younger renters to the typically pricey area.
The building would offer a mix of studios from 343 to 372 square feet, as well as larger "junior one-bedrooms" of just more than 500 square feet. All of the apartments would have an in-unit washer and dryer.
Rents would be $1,250 for the studios and $1,450 for the one-bedrooms.
Three of the apartments would be for lower-income renters in accordance with the city's Affordable Requirements Ordinance, which requires that certain new buildings over 20 units either allocate 10 percent of units for affordable housing or pay $125,000 per unit to a city-managed trust fund that helps to develop low-income housing elsewhere.
Shared amenities would include a bike room with spaces for 32 bikes, electronic package/storage lockers that send residents a text or email when their package arrives, and a rooftop deck.
There would be one parking spot available for all residents to share, said Gabriel Leahu, a development manager with LG Development and Construction Group, because the site is close enough to the "L" stop to qualify as a transit-oriented development, meaning it wouldn't be have to offer the number of parking spots normally required of a building of its size.
Two other parking spaces would be for the not-yet-determined retail tenant and a car-sharing Zipcar.
The 2013 city ordinance allowing transit-oriented developments has ushered in a flurry of new buildings that offer as many as 99 apartments with no dedicated parking, an issue that has divided neighbors.
First introduced to residents at a public meeting last August hosted by 2nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins, who would need to approve a zoning change for the building, the apartments would replace a demolished industrial warehouse about a block north of the CTA Damen Blue Line "L" stop.
Early Friday, Hopkins' spokesman Christian Ficara said the alderman supports the apartments.
"After multiple public meetings, revisions and the earned support of the Bucktown Community Organization, Wicker Park/Bucktown Chamber of Commerce and the adjacent property's condo board, Ald. Hopkins is now ready to support this proposal," Ficara told DNAinfo.
Making density a priority
After members of a Wicker Park neighborhood group voted against the project in January, Hopkins said he was waiting to hear more feedback, since the building's location along a strip of Milwaukee Avenue between the six corners intersection and the 606 has been claimed by both Wicker Park and Bucktown community groups.
Leahu said that the building would promote lower rents than other new buildings on Milwaukee Avenue in hip Logan Square, where some tenants are paying as much as $1,200 to live with two roommates.
Ginna Ryan, a member of the Wicker Park/Bucktown Chamber of Commerce's board, said the group supports buildings with higher numbers of units surrounding the Milwaukee/North/Damen intersection as part of the neighborhood vision outlined in the area's "Master Plan."
Philip Edison, chairman of the Bucktown Community Organization's zoning and planning committee, told the crowd that Bucktown is rapidly losing its apartments as two- and three-flats get torn down to make way for single-family homes.
"We are losing density on interior streets and need a gain on main streets. It's important for the Chamber [of Commerce] too, as too many people are clicking [online] and not shopping in local businesses. How will we get more younger people here?" Edison asked.
Christy Webber, a longtime Bucktown resident, lamented the fact the North, Milwaukee and Damen avenues hub has changed.
"The vision has turned to a party street, a drinking street," Webber said, and she worries a complex of just studio apartments nearby would keep it that way.
Teddy Varndell, a member of the Wicker Park Committee, which had opposed the project, weighed in at the Bucktown group's meeting.
"As an old dude, I would like to see 60 and 70-year-olds in these [studio] buildings, too, so lifetime friendships can be made, instead of more like dorm life, phase two," Varndell said.
Do studios court millennials?
Design renderings by Jonathan Splitt Architects show brick, exposed steel, metal panels and glass as main architectural elements for the mixed-use residential and retail building that would be anchored by a 2,258-square-foot storefront on the first floor and apartments on the upper levels.
Edison said that the targeted demographic for the building is young people for good reason: They are more likely to frequent local shops and restaurants than the older residents.
"I'm 46 years old. I go out three times a month. These guys go out three or four times a week," Edison said.
Neighbors like Chris Erikson said that's a good thing for the neighborhood.
"All I see is an empty lot and a good plan," Erikson said.
Josh Harks, 27, who doesn't live in the neighborhood but said he hopes to live there soon, said the development's priorities are well aligned with his home.
"I'm a young person. I don't care about amenities. I care about cheap rent," Harks said.
Wicker resident Teddy Varndell (right) tells developer Brian Goldberg (left) that he want to see a better effort to attract intergenerational tenants in studio apartments. [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]
1665 Neighborhood Mtg Presentation_GL by Alisa H on Scribd
