Thursday, February 20, 2014

Loukas Development Plans 8 Story Building At Sheridan & Dakin

3936 N. Sheridan as seen today
Although just out of Uptown's official borders, this will certainly be of interest to anyone who uses the Sheridan red line station or lives nearby. Loukas Development is planning an 8 story development at 3936 N. Sheridan, right on the NW corner. Currently, the property is home to a vintage 3 story apartment building that has called that corner home for many, many years. Loukas was also the developer for the project on the SW corner of Sheridan and Dakin. The project will be presented to the 46th Ward Zoning and Development Committee at the next meeting on Monday, February 24, at 7pm in the Weiss Hospital Auditorium.
Loukas Development's plans for the property

31 comments:

  1. Interesting in light of future redevelopment of the Sheridan CTA station as Red Line Modernization goes through (next five to 10 years). Does that new building look narrower than what it replaces, leaving more room for the tracks and station behind it? If CTA is going to smooth out that curve, it will need some space.

    Shame to lose a classic building, but the replacement doesn't look bad.

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    1. The RPM calls for the tracks to no longer make two 90º turns, instead making more like two 45º, so no land would be needed to the south. The contrary is actually true, and land would potentially be taken from the north side and given to the south.

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  2. Agree that it's never good to loose a classic building, but at least the proposed replacement isn't another split-faced block six flat, vintage demo with no plans to develop, big box design storage unit, etc, etc, etc.

    Given all options and recent neighborhood (or just outside) trends, this is a great development!

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  3. This will certainly impact some of the small businesses in the neighborhood: TAC Quick (arguably some of the best Thai food in the city), Foremost Cleaners, and Best Buy Grocery.

    I am somewhat distressed by this development and its potential displacement of these neighborhood businesses. Especially in light of the tenants Loukas has been (un)able to obtain for the other development on the SW corner.

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  4. And also all the empty lots bulldozed by the hospital around there--fill those in, don't demo buildings that anchor corners well like this one.

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    1. One thing that people are overlooking is that the owner of this building decided to sell it. It's not like Loukas is going around just randomly seizing buildings while the owners stand by helplessly. As for the empty lots, those are owned by Thorek Hospital, which is landbanking them. I'd bet you five dollars that Loukas approached the Hospital and either didn't get as good a deal as it did on this building. Or the Hospital said no. It's not like a Tetris game.

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    2. not quite - they own this building already and have for years. they aren't developing the vacant lots because they don't own them

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  5. There are TONS of corner lots in Uptown that I wish someone would buy and build a development like this (ok, maybe not THAT modern) - take ANY of the silly corner strip malls with the vast parking lots! Or the NE and SE corners of Wilson and Broadway. Or even the SW corner of Wilson and Magnolia. I know this is in Lakeview technically, but to loose a classic building like this is just a damn shame when we have some real dumps on our commercial streets further north that many wouldn't mind to loose to something like this.

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  6. More interesting though when a butt ugly messed up building is torn down or a vacant lot is turned into a nice building.

    Overall dumb to tear down a nice vintage building like the one above

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  7. The Red Line el actually makes it's rather severe turn above the ComEd substation just north of Dakin at Seminary. If the CTA were to want to "smooth out" that turn, it would have to be immediately west of the current Sheridan stop.

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  8. It is insane if the city let's that building be torn down. That is a classic Chicago style building that has ground floor retail that is occupied. This development will result in more empty retail, similar to this developers building just south. This building should not be torn down. But is Loukas donatednto Tom Tunney, he will get his way.

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    1. It's not up to the city.

      The city can't interfere if a private party wants to sell his/her property to another private party, unless that property is legally protected.

      It also can't tell an owner he/she can't demolish that property..

      Two very recent examples: The home at 4642 N Magnolia was denied landmark status and is now rubble. The building where Nick's used to be is now in the process of receiving protected status and cannot be demolished.

      People somehow have the idea that privately owned buildings that receive no government funding can't be sold. That's nonsense.

      Just as the city can't stop you from selling your home to another private party, the same goes for the nuns selling Maryville; Jack Gore selling the Chateau; Hull House selling the Beacon Street building; and the church selling its parking lot on the 3900 block of Broadway.

      Unless you want the city to have final say on whether or not you're allowed to sell your place -- and to whom -- a scenario I think most of us would recoil from -- then we have to accept that the same goes for other privately owned properties.

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  9. Better plans for the proposal here.

    http://james46.org/3936-sheridandakin-proposal/

    I refuse to hyperlink because even with the fifty per hour wind gusts and relatively warm weather there is still snow out there.............thppppt!

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  10. I went to high school with one of the Loukases. They're good people who have lived in this part of Lakeview for a long, long time. The point is, they're invested in the community because they live here, unlike other developers out to make a quick buck and then move on. I, too, wish they could have redeveloped the vacant bar across the street as opposed to what is a really pretty vintage building, and I'll be as mad as anybody if there isn't a plan for keeping Tac Quick in the neighborhood. But let's give them a little bit of slack considering they're redeveloping their own neighborhood. I'd suggest the reason they're looking at these sites versus the existing vacant lots is the proximity to the Red Line. I don't know that for sure but it has to be a huge selling point.

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  11. How about we put this new building next to Big Chicks, leave the historic building where it is and find a nice vacant lot for the self storage center?

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  12. The City of Chicago has always been trigger happy when it comes to demolishing old buildings like these and others much more significant to the city's history. Usually the developers and politicians all have a stake in the new development in one way or another which means it's coming down no matter what. In a one-party state like Chicago, where a 19th century machine still operates not unlike Tammany Hall, we really shouldn't expect much. Only on rare occasions does the community prevail (e.g. the Crosstown Expressway which would have pretty much demolished Mayfair). Little Italy, where Circle Campus (UIC) now sits wasn't so lucky.

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    1. I don't understand why anyone thinks the city has any involvement with this. One person decided to sell a property they own. Another person wants to buy it. The property is not landmarked and there is no government money involved. It's not in housing court. It's not being taken by eminent domain. No government entity is building an expressway or campus. It's a private transaction. The only reason it is going before the Zoning Committee is that there must be some kind of zoning request involved.

      In the 46th Ward, the alderman has gone along with the community representatives of that committee (unlike the 48th Ward, where the alderman listens to the community and makes his own decision). See, for example, the home at 4642 Magnolia. The community made the decision not to upzone it, and the alderman went along with it. The property changed hands, and the new owners... well, you know what happened.

      Unless a building is landmarked or financed by a government entity, the owners are free to sell it. That's what's happening here. Although some in this Ward think and wish it were a socialist outpost, it's still part of the USA, where our entire system of government is based on individual property rights. Unless you want your neighbors voting on whether or not you have the right to sell your possessions, you have to cede those same rights to the owner and potential buyer of this building.

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    2. Sure, the owners are free to sell and the buyers are free to buy--WITH THEIR OWN MONEY. There is NO reason to be giving $14 million in PUBLIC TAXPAYER DOLLARS to this private company. In a time of financial crisis, in which millions of people are suffering from lack of living wage jobs and lack of public social services or lack of access to those services which do remain, it is without a doubt wholly immoral to be giving taxpayer money to a wealthy corporation.

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    3. UptownUpchucking, you seem to have your underwear in a bunch and tied in knots over the Maryville development...and that, if you read about the contents of THIS particular posting, is not about Maryville. It's about the NW corner of Sheridan and Dakin. Before you start getting all self-righteous about a TIF district that you probably don't even contribute taxes to to begin with and start going off foaming at the mouth about things, at least make sure that you're "debating" the right topic. I haven't seen anything about the Loukas project asking for taxpayer support to begin with. here

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    4. Good point bear - of course if UptownUprising (Ryne) had the power, he'd ban you from posting on here as he has started to ban several people on his lovely site. See, he doesn't like to hear anyone else's point of view. He'd rather mislead his small group of followers into believing his own sense of reality. I mean really - last night's promised HUGE protest was pathetic - all of maybe 20 people?

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    5. Oh, I got the impression that Uptown Uprising was largely Stavroula and that Ryne was Robin to her Batman. Maybe I'm wrong. I was told by my deep undercover source among the leftist horde, let's call her Trotsky's Tart, that "Batman" moved out of Uptown. Again I could be wrong and perhaps both Batman and the boy wonder do live in Uptown.

      In any case yesterday's march was hardly the success that they wanted it to be. I'm seeing numbers of 25-30 people for the march. Here's some pics the Denice Davis campaign managed to put on their FB page. I hope Denice liked standing out in the cold because that's about as close as she's going to get to being alderman.

      Here's a link to some videos they put out featuring the march and the later meeting. Not surprisingly Jeffrey Littleton found his way in front of a camera. I can't even bring myself to watch it. I need to get some alcohol in my system, ok more alcohol, first.

      That march was pathetic. Thirty people? They claimed something like 10-12 groups were going to send people. Did those groups get lost trying to find Uptown? Did they take a wrong turn somewhere and up in Berwyn? Berwyn?

      I guess their counter counter revolution is not drawing the large number of followers they had hoped for. Perhaps they should have advertised free hot cocoa during for marchers. Did anyone from JPUSA show up? Just by themselves they could bring out more than thirty people. I mean they still have triple digit membership, right?

      I'd hate to think they our moral betters over at the non Friendly Tower on Wilson are losing members in droves. That would upset my tummy. I saw the comment the other day with the mention of Clifford Law Offices being involved in the sexual abuse lawsuit against JPUSA.

      Here's a link to the story on the JPUSA lawsuit. Man, when I see the phrase "Clifford Law Offices" it makes me not want be on the defendant side of that lawsuit. That's one of the top personal injury law firms in the country.

      I missed it when I first read it, but The Evangelical Covenant Church, the denomination JPUSA joined, is also being sued. I guess Clifford is searching for deeper pockets than just JPUSA.

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  14. Little Italy was a ghetto before UIC. Have you sen that area now? I am sure they are not crying.

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  15. Irish, did you see Circle in the intervening years? It took nearly 50 years for UIC to resemble anything besides a wasteland of concrete and horrific architecture. What's left of Little Italy on Taylor is still much more appealing in my humble opinion.

    The City of Chicago ought to have stricter guidelines on how private property can be reused depending on a variety of factors including the age of the extant structure, its condition, the ecological impact its demolition would have etc. This isn't socialism; it's urban planning with forethought. Uptown went through years of arson and largely unsupervised development creating parking nightmares and horrific replacements to irreplaceable structures. We need to preserve what's left rather than present our entire neighborhoods, rather than just empty lots or condemned structures, as clean slates for developers, architects and politicians to play with.

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  16. Well, then it wouldn't really be considered private property, now would it UR? But, I have an idea to help you with your request. I think since you feel there is not enough city/government regulation on a persons personal property, you should set a precedence by being the first. You should by all means volunteer YOUR own property, ask the city to set the guidelines on what you can actually do with it, strictly adhering to the guidelines you have listed above, of course. If you truly feel that is the only way to keep everyone in check, then what better way to lead than by example? Be a trail blazer. This will be your chance to be a trendsetter, to be a pioneer!!

    Let me know how that works out for you.

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  17. Uptown Update is awful these days. Just ban the same 5 idiots that have something negative to say to anyone that has a problem with gentrification.

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    1. Phil,

      turn that frown upside down.

      Here's something that you can relate to the "evil" of gentrification.

      Then again given enough weed and alcohol I imagine you can relate anything to gentrification.

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  18. There can be many variables for this project direction and kickoff. But does anyone know about the projected groundbreaking date for this Lukas' development?

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