"This is a great neighborhood and a great collection of neighborhoods," says Christopher Hill of Skidmore Owings Merrill LLP. "It's a reflection of what's been going on in Chicago over the last several years."
That includes redevelopment, much of it residential, and most of the multifamily development being condominiums, in the East Village, Eckhart Park, Fulton River District, River West and Ukrainian Village neighborhoods.
"I think you're about five years behind what's happening," 50th Ward Alderman Bernard Stone told city planners and consultants Thursday. "Milwaukee Avenue is no longer a commercial street, and the Grand Avenue restaurant area already is developing."
Hill counters the neighborhood is still in transition. To continue the push, the city's guideline for the area call for new CTA stops to break up stretches between Clinton Street in the West Loop and Ashland Avenue, and between Ashland and California Avenue. New stops could be built at Halsted or Morgan streets on the eastern end of the neighborhood, or Damen or Western avenues further west.
While the plan encourages transit-oriented development, Metra commuter rail crossings on the fringe of the West Loop must be made safe, argues 42nd Ward Alderman Burton Natarus, whose new constituency includes a Fulton Street neighborhood arguing whether new development should be retail or residential.
"Retail is starting to come as a result of the residential development," says department of planning and development project manager Nori Bleiman. "I think that's the dynamic we want to keep."
Further west, Chicago Avenue is likely to remain the neighborhood "Main Street" with most of the retail activity, particularly near Ashland Avenue, Hill says. However, the former Goldblatt's department store in the 1600 block of W. Chicago Ave. is now occupied by city departments. Convenience retail development is seen at the intersection of Chicago, Milwaukee and Ogden avenues, he adds.
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