"It's not unusual for 20,000 people to traverse Devon Avenue on a Saturday or Sunday," says 50th Ward Alderman Bernard L. Stone. Stone, a long-time real estate broker, backed a proposed planned development by ASAT, Inc., a Rogers Park developer.

The project recently received a favorable recommendation from the city's plan commission, which was necessary because of the two buildings' six-story height, as well as building over an existing alley. As a trade-off for building the largest building on that stretch of Devon Avenue, ASAT has agreed to build a landscaped "green roof" over 50% of the buildings.

The ground-floor retail space would be topped by a three-story parking garage. Condominiums with terraces would fill the fifth and sixth stories of the two buildings at the northeast corner of Devon Avenue and Rockwell Street.

While 37 parking spaces are being set aside for the condominium owners, another 182 could be used by shoppers visiting the newest retailers on Devon Avenue, one of the city's most ethnically diverse shopping areas. That replaces the 60 spaces now available in a surface parking lot on the street corner. "This is a project we've worked on for 10 years," Stone says.

ASAT may come to the community development commission for tax increment financing assistance, according to department of planning and development officials.