Over 100 interested Uptown neighbors and business owners came to the Kinetic Playground for a community meeting sponsored by Uptown Neighborhood Council on Wednesday evening. Based on the attendance and reaction from the crowd, the neighborhood is hungry for information about new developments around Uptown.Presentations included:
- A representative from CDOT to discuss the Clark Streetscaping project, from Montrose to Ainslie. There is no confirmed start date for this project, but the work is expected to take 4 to 6 months and should start this summer.
- Developers from Pure 2.0, a high rise planned from Leland and Clarendon. This building will have 162 units, with 17 set aside for CPAN/affordable housing. The sales center should open on Lakeside in May, but the future plans for the currently unoccupied building are still up in the air.
- Jimmy Gouskus, the developer of the building that housed the Kinetic Playground, presented updated plans for the second and third phases of the development. Phase 2 is 21 story residential building on Winthrop, directly behind the building that houses Chase and Kinetic Playground. Phase 3 is on the southeast corner of Winthrop and Lawrence and is a nine story mixed use structure with a planned nine-screen movie theatre, retail and office space, and a minimum of 499 parking spots. With the owners of the Aragon as investors, Jimmy said that Phase 3 may start construction before the residential building.
- The owners of Crew Bar and Grill, Brian Wells and Steve Milford, showed the latest architectural plans for their new bar, the Wilde Pug, which is located on Broadway one storefront north of Crew. With an expected opening in mid-May, the bar has a cozy front room with a fireplace and windows that open up onto Broadway, as well a back room for private parties and dancing on the weekends.
Thanks for the update. Were there any updates on what is going on with the Uptown theater?
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific idea. Ask some of the residents from the neighborhood to come together and share information about what is going to take place around where they live. Allow them to ask questions and then actually answer them honestly. Where was the Alderman? Why does she not initiate this type of gathering on a regular basis? Well I feel like I already know the answer but it is nice to see the neighborhood not wait for her to have this type of meeting. I bet we will see more and more of this type of thing. People will set up a meeting with projects in the neighborhood and then ask Helen if she wants to come. Either way we as neighborhood will be able to share information about what she is or is not doing regardless if she feels it is important to be seen by her ward residents.
ReplyDeleteRE: Uptown Theatre. There were no specific references to Uptown Theatre's development. But Jimmy made a great point about his parking garage/movie theatre proposal helping theatres. The parking garage meets an increasing demand for parking in the area. He also mentioned the city wants the garage development. In my opinion, the city may be pushing the garage because if they own UT via eminent domain, the city can use the garage as a selling point. Bottom line, the garage helps all Uptown theatres hopefully including Uptown Theatre.
ReplyDeleteI agree. A garage is badly needed in that area. But are any TIF funds going to build it?
ReplyDeleteHowever, we also need improvements to the Lawrence el to encourage people to take it and maybe even better connections from the metra to get concert-goers from the suburbs to take the train. We all know that going east-west in this city is a nightmare. Lawrence Avenue just can't handle local traffic + event traffic. When this was the bright lights area, most people either already lived here or took public transportation to get here. Car ownership was much lower then.
This event was a totally non-political event. That was known from the beginning. It was a positive meeting for all of us that live and work here to see what is hopefully to come.
ReplyDeleteI was amazed and excited about all of the people who attended.
What a great and positive meeting!!
Did they mention what the fee to park will be? I agree that a parking lot this large would help out big time but I can still see cheep skates parking on local streets to avoid paying any parking fees.
ReplyDeleteTotally off topic..... sorry. But, hey "uptown vegetarian", we're relatively new to the hood and looking for some healthy take out options. As a vegetarian, do you have any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteThanks
I'm not Uptown Vegetarian, but I can highly recommend "Alma Pita" on Wilson at Magnolia. The best baba ganouj and dolma around!
ReplyDeleteKudos to all the presenters who gave us hope for what's coming to Uptown. Jimmy G. brings even more hope to cleaning up Lawrence and making the entertainment district the big draw around the city.
ReplyDeleteNow if we could only get person with Jimmy's energy to clean up Wilson and Sheridan.
But we have to work together to make these developer's plans work. For example, I very rarely walk over to Borders (despite being a ravenous bibliophile) because the sidewalks on Lawrence are so narrow and are frequently crowded with people waiting for buses and hanging around in front of buildings, the EL, etc. It is very difficult and unpleasant to make that walk with a stroller too. We need a lot more focus on how pedestrian friendly our side streets are in addition to our main thoroughfares. Loitering may be a problem but the sidewalks are also very narrow for the amount of pedestrian traffic that there is.
ReplyDeleteAny update regarding labor ready ?
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts to a gym possibly going into some of this new construction? World Gym needs some competition in the area so they will update/clean their facilites and deal with their unfriendly staff
We have "Body Fit" on the corner of Leland and Broadway. It's a nice gym. Check it out if you get a chance.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if there are any businesses on the horizon moving into the strip mall area where the J.J. Pepper's is at Lawrence & Sheridan? There are alot of vacancies there.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, nothing is "Slatered" to come to that part of Uptown besides Labor Ready...ha! ha! Seriously, though, we should be hearing about that soon because the zoning board has a new meeting at the end of the month.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know who owns that strip mall and what their campaign contributions to Shiller look like? She has only had Sheridan past Lawrence for a few years now but it coincidentally falls in line with the deterioration of the strip mall.
Thanks for the tip on Alma Pita and their Baba.... I was a loyal patron of Sultan's both in Lincoln Park and Wicker Park. We were looking for some great middle eastern food! We'll be sure to check it out.
ReplyDeleteAlma Pita does indeed rock. I love their falafel plate.
ReplyDeleteAnother veggie friendly place is Uptown Thai, on Broadway, across from the Wilson el. I'm kind of a half-assed vegetarian, but I've brought my "purer" friends to both places and they found plenty of items they could eat on both menus.
Two market rate high-rises with lake views, the restored gem Uptown Broadway building reviving the Lawrence Broadway area, The Wilde Pug for more cozy cocktail options and Clark St looking all snazzy from Montrose up to Andersonville.
ReplyDeleteI'd say Uptown is starting to show her old glory.
Be pleased. However, don't let all of the sparkling lights disorient you to what is really happening around here. Truly positive change won't happen if residents just sit back and watch someone else make it happen. It will be their changes, not yours.
ReplyDeleteAn none of it because of the TIF but in spite of it.
ReplyDeleteSo how do we change that? How do we make the community truly part of how TIF money is spent?
ReplyDelete