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Read the press release here.

Gold Coast Apartment Proposal To Be Shared With Neighbors Tuesday

 A rendering of the project, which has since been removed from Draper & Kramer's website.
A rendering of the project, which has since been removed from Draper & Kramer's website.
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Draper & Kramer

GOLD COAST — A local developer will share its plans next week for the 8-story apartment building it wants to build at 65 E. Banks St., one of the last unbuilt sites along the Downtown lakefront.

Chicago-based Draper & Kramer will pitch Gold Coast neighbors on the 58-unit building at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St. 

The developer filed a zoning application with city officials Wednesday after unveiling a rendering of the mid-rise project more than a year ago

If built, the building would replace a longtime parking lot just west of Lake Shore Drive, the last undeveloped lot between Diversey Parkway and the hole in the ground dug for the Chicago Spire.  

The project would include two- and three-bedroom apartments in addition to 68 underground parking spaces, 58 spots for bicycles and rooftop amenities, according to Ald. Michele Smith (43rd), who announced next week's presentation. 

Draper & Kramer proposed building a 40-story tower on the site in 1997, but a well-heeled group of neighbors fought the high-rise proposal and convinced a former Gold Coast alderman to scale down the property's zoning, sparking an ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit against the city that lasted nearly 10 years.

RELATED: Gold Coast Development Scaled Way Down After Major Legal Battle With City

Some neighbors are still wary of the mid-rise proposal, saying it blocks views and doesn't fit in with its surroundings.

Smith and the Gold Coast Neighbors Association are hosting the presentation.

RELATED: New Gold Coast Apartments Proposed Off Lake Shore Drive