An Evanston developer is facing community pushback after proposing a 31-story, 333 foot tall apartment building that would rank third tallest in suburban Chicagoland.
The proposed residential tower would have the same number of floors as suburban Chicago’s tallest building, Oakbrook Terrace Tower in DuPage County, though that building rises 418 feet, according to information from Shawn Ursini of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
The proposed highrise, which aligns with Mayor Daniel Biss’ goal to increase housing density in Evanston, is also notable becuse it includes dramatically fewer parking spaces than is typical for the suburbs. There would be 80 on-site spaces for 445 apartments. The developer suggested using an estimated 120 parking spots in nearby city-owned garages, but so far that remains only a suggestion.
Representatives from Chicago based co-developers Vermilion Development and Campbell Coyle shared with neighbors proposals of their 605 Davis Street high rise, at the northwest corner of Davis Street and Chicago Avenue, at a ward meeting on April 29. The developers anticipate the development, on two currently vacant lots, will also help the city’s goal of raising property tax revenue for the land parcels by millions of dollars.
The proposed building’s height would put it under the suburbs’ second-tallest building, Two Pierce Plaza in Itasca, at 395 feet, but much taller than Evanston’s existing tallest buildings: Orrington Plaza at 277 feet, Sherman Plaza at 276 feet, Optima Views at 265 feet and One Rotary Center at 237 feet tall, per information from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
The community meeting, hosted by Councilmembers Clare Kelly (1st) and Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th), was attended by about 50 residents at the main branch of the Evanston Public Library. The majority of residents offered a mix of reasons as to why the project should not move forward, including parking troubles, traffic troubles and a potential “wind tunnel” effect that could strengthen winds, making downtown harder for pedestrians to walk.
The project had some support at the meeting from Evanston’s commercial partners. “We should be welcoming this type of development. We should be working with them,” said Andy Vick, the executive director of the Downtown Evanston Merchants Organization.
Evanston resident Tina Paden said the development will not benefit most Evanstonians, particularly Black families.
“Let’s be real, that this building is for Northwestern students,” she said. “I live down the street from (housing developments) E2 and The Link. I do not see Black families with three or four children walking out of the building. They are Northwestern students. You are coming here for opportunity to make big, giant dollars from Northwestern students. You do not care about Evanston residents.”
As proposed by developers, the building’s 445 residential units will mostly be studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, according to Dickson. The development is proposed to have 20%, or 89, of them marketed as affordable units, which is 5% more than the city’s inclusionary housing ordinance requires.
Plans call for the development to have three storefronts. Luay Aboona, principal at traffic consulting firm KLOA, Inc., said the development is not likely to increase traffic in a significant way in the immediate area of the development.
Kerry Dickson, managing director of Vermilion Development, said the developers hope to negotiate a lease with city-owned parking lots on Church Street and Davis Street for residents to park their vehicles there. The city could net an additional $172,000 in renting out parking spaces needed by the development’s residents, he said, estimating that an additional 120 vehicles will need parking.
Dickson said the site at 605-609 Davis Street now houses two vacant lots and is in blighted condition.
The Davis Street development isn’t the only high rise project in the works in Evanston. Last September, two developers proposed a 27-story apartment building also in the downtown area at the current Church Street Plaza. That development is anticipated to have 358 units, and is also asking the city for variances in its zoning code to have a lower number of parking spaces.
Property tax breaks
Jonathan Perman of Jasculca Terman Strategic Communications, a spokesperson hired to represent the development, said that because the 605 Davis Street development offers 20% of its units to be rented at an affordable rate, a state statute makes discounts available in the developer’s property tax bill.
Called Affordable Illinois when it was signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker in 2021, the state law makes housing developments in certain areas of Cook County eligible for a significant property tax break, in the form of lowered assessments, available for 30 years, as long as they also provide 20% of their housing units to be rented at affordable rates, among other requirements.
For the first 12 years after the development is complete, the building owner will pay 60% or less of the building’s assessed property tax value. For the 18 years after that, they will pay 80% of the assessed value. After that time period is over, the property tax bill must be paid in its entirety.
At the meeting, Councilmember Kelly said the 30 years of property tax discounts would essentially be a forfeiture from the city to the developer.
Perman took a different emphasis, characterizing the property tax bill the developers will be paying, stating that after 12 years, the city of Evanston would be reaping an estimated $2.7 million instead of the $21,450 it is getting now for the undeveloped property.
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