Although the utility's purchase of nearly an acre of West Loop land for $2.4 million was recommended for approval by the city council's committee on housing and real estate Thursday, 33rd Ward Ald. Richard Mell demanded improvements be made to dress up a substation at Addison Street and California Avenue, near his home. "The power stations in my ward are the pits," adds 36th Ward Ald. William J.P. Banks. "They don't abide by the city's landscaping ordinance. They work, but they just look horrendous."
Land at the northwest corner of Madison Street and Des Plaines Avenue is worth $60 per sf, according to an appraisal used to determine its cost for Commonwealth Edison. The electric utility will pay a net price of $2.025 million, taking into account $375,000 for environmental remediation costs.
Plans call for brick walls around the structure, making it appear from the street to be a building rather than a substation.
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