Developer and neighbors at odds over Lake View proposal

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Updated: January 1, 2012 8:18AM

A developer has proposed a 17-story retail and residential complex in Lake View, and some neighbors are working to thwart the project or cut down its size.

James Letchinger, president of JDL Development Corp., proposed the project for 3750 N. Halsted, the site of a parking lot for Faith Tabernacle Church. Letchinger, in partnership with Harlem Irving Cos., wants to build 350 apartments above 46,000 square feet for retail space.

A new group, Halsted Neighbors, has formed to rally opposition and claims it has more than 300 signatures on a petition against the project. On a web site devoted to the campaign, the group said the project is too large for the neighborhood and could create a housing surplus, lowering property values.

Letchinger said his $100 million project has gotten support from other community groups. With little new rental housing in Lake View during the last 20 years, Letchinger sees a pent-up demand.

“I have never seen a new, well-executed building not bring up the values of what’s around it,” he said.

The site is on the southern edge of Ald. James Cappleman’s 46th Ward. Letchinger is due to meet with Cappleman’s zoning advisory committee Dec. 8. In the meantime, Cappleman has taken no position on the project.

Letchinger said his retail component won’t include a Walmart or a grocery store, contrary to some neighborhood rumors. “It’ll most likely be a health club, but the deal is not 100 percent done,” he said.

He has a contract to buy the land from the neighboring church, which gets money for a renovation and continued access to parking out of the deal. Letchinger proposes 369 parking spaces, accessible to shoppers and the apartment renters.

One interesting element in the design by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture is relatively few units with balconies. Letchinger said the goal is to get residents out of their homes and into the building’s common areas, which will include a private park and outdoor pool.

LAKE SHORE’S DRIVE: Last week, I wrote about Draper and Kramer Inc.’s plan to build a mid-rise residential building at 1320 N. Lake Shore Drive. The parking lot was the prize in one of the city’s longest-running zoning fights, and attorney Reuben Hedlund, who waged it on behalf of residents, provided a historical perspective of civic activism in the wealthy Gold Coast.

Why did such a coveted piece of land remain a parking lot for so long? Hedlund said it goes back to 1952, when a group formed by Henry Crown and Ferd Kramer purchased property that used to belong to Potter Palmer. Hedlund wrote: “With federal guarantees of the financing, two high-rises were constructed at 1350 and 1360 Lake Shore Drive, among the first such buildings constructed in the neighborhood after World War II. The portion of the Palmer estate south of Banks Street was cleared for a parking lot, a use that continues to this day. The low-rise and open-space features of the project were required by the then applicable restrictions of the Chicago zoning ordinance.”

When that zoning agreement was about to lapse, Draper & Kramer began planning a high-rise. At the same time, another developer wanted to build tall about a block away next to a park called Goudy Square. The uproar led to the creation of the Near North Preservation Coalition, which successfully blocked both high-rises.

The Goudy Square project became the mid-rise 65 E. Goethe building by the celebrated architect Lucien Lagrange. It’s an undeniable asset to the neighborhood and a home to some prominent families.

As for the Draper & Kramer site, Hedlund noted that the neighborhood coalition, which he represented, prevailed after a 12-year court fight. He said the Gold Coast has a history of rallying against unwanted development, referring to early 20th century campaigns to prevent the widening of the drive and the elimination of Oak Street Beach, today an unthinkable proposition.

“Was it worth it? Of course,” Hedlund wrote. The area’s proximity to downtown, devotion to preservation and its lower density have made it one of the finest urban enclaves in the country, he said. “At night, with your window open, you can still hear the hoof beats of horse carriages returning to the stable west of Wells,” he said.

His words are a reminder that progress shouldn’t be measured by new high-rises.

FLATIRON FANFARE: What’s being called Hairpin Lofts is now open at 2800 N. Milwaukee, at the Diversey-Milwaukee-Kimball intersection in Logan Square. The project by Brinshore Development LLC converted the old flatiron-style building at the triangular corner into 28 housing units for low- to moderate-income renters plus commercial space and an arts studio managed by the Logan Square Chamber of the Arts.

The name hearkens back to the 1930 building’s origin as the home of the Hump Hair Pin Manufacturing Co. The building is both a local and national landmark, but for many years was in disrepair. City subsidies helped with the revival.