Thousands Of New Housing Units Could Come To Edgewater, Uptown

The Chicago Plan Commission approved a proposal Thursday that provides a framework for rezoning a 20-block stretch of Broadway in Edgewater and Uptown, paving the way for significantly higher-density new development. 

The stretch includes areas close to transit likely to benefit from the city's $2.1B investment in the Red-Purple Line modernization project, which is expected to be completed within the next two years. The city's investment provides “once-in-a-generation” opportunities for improved transit service, infrastructure upgrades and new transit-oriented development in Uptown and Edgewater, officials wrote in city documents.

The new zoning framework would alter the landscape along the corridor, changing a stretch currently lined by many low-rise buildings with several housing units on the upper floors. The proposal outlines districts that allow the construction of mixed-use, mid-rise apartment towers, with the densest development near seven Chicago Transit Authority Red Line stations, The Chicago Tribune reported.

Throughout the corridor, many properties are currently vacant or have low-activation uses such as parking, auto lots and storage facilities, according to city documents. These sites create gaps between more vibrant areas of the corridor and can deter foot traffic that local businesses depend on, officials wrote. 

The proposed framework still awaits city council approval. 

Katharyn Hurd, north region lead planner for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, told commission members that the city aims to use CTA-owned parcels along the Red Line near Broadway as locations for affordable housing, according to the Tribune.

She added that establishing a framework simply provides guidelines for developers and does not automatically change zoning along Broadway.

“Nothing will happen overnight,” she said, according to the Tribune.

Some residents raised concerns at the meeting that the framework was too sweeping a change to the communities' zoning laws.

Former Chicago Department of Housing Commissioner and Edgewater resident Jack Markowski said he supported streamlining the approval process but didn't want to enable a process where developers can “run roughshod over the community.” 

Daniel Cooper, director of research for the Metropolitan Planning Council and an Uptown resident, said he understood the concerns of some local residents. Yet changing zoning in response to individual development proposals can scare developers away, he said.

“I think doing this parcel by parcel slows things down, and turns off developers, who frequently go elsewhere and build where there are fewer barriers,” he said, according to the Tribune. “There are definitely real trade-offs, but these are trade-offs you have in every urban environment.”