The developers revealed a possible exit strategy: eventually selling the units, which will command an average rent of more than $1,500 a month, as condominiums. Three-fourths of the units in the proposed 17-story building are studios and one-bedrooms, with the remaining 24% two-bedroom units.
"I'm a little disappointed it won't be condos from the start," McKenna says, noting there is a dearth of available studio condominiums in town.
Others weighing in on the project on the narrow site just south of a Chicago Transit Authority rail yard suggest owners make better neighbors than renters. However, Appraisal Research Counselors VP John Jaeger testified the development will not hurt property values.
"I don't think this project will have a negative impact on the surrounding properties," says Jaeger, a consultant to the developers Bristol Chicago Development LLC. "In fact, I think it will have a positive impact with the infusion of capital into the neighborhood."
While the single young professionals, couples and empty-nesters are likely to bring disposable income to stores on the Evanston and Chicago sides of Howard Street, a lack of affordable housing units was cited as a reason to vote "no" by the two dissenting plan commission members. However, others claim Evanston's 8th Ward already has the largest share of affordable housing in the suburb.
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