Multifamily Proposal Killed in Chicago’s Staunch Bungalow Belt

A plan to bring a 48-unit apartment building to Edgebrook is dead after 45th Ward Alderman Jim Gardiner announced his opposition, following a raucous, three-hour community meeting that packed the Edgebrook School gym with more than 200 residents, Block Club Chicago reported.

The proposal from Drexel Properties called for a five-story building at 5500 West Devon Avenue, with ground-floor retail and 30 parking spaces. Apartments would have ranged from $2,700 one-bedrooms to $4,000 three-bedrooms, with 20 percent set aside for affordable units under the city’s ordinance.

Opponents said the project didn’t fit the neighborhood’s character and warned it would exacerbate traffic and parking woes. Supporters said the development could bring younger residents, foot traffic and a boost to struggling local businesses.

In a newsletter last week, Gardiner said he would not back the zoning change needed to move the project forward.

“Your feedback made it clear this project is not the right fit for our community,” Gardiner wrote.

Drexel founder Jeff Weinberg said the firm would not pursue the development.

The site, near the Edgebrook Metra station and North Branch Trail, houses a Compass Real Estate office, a cigar shop and a hair salon. Compass broker Phil Barone pitched the property to Drexel, whose principals envisioned the building as appealing to local downsizers and remote-working professionals. Drexel had pledged to manage the property itself and to relocate displaced businesses during construction.

Concerns over height, density and rentals dominated the opposition. Neighbors said five stories would overwhelm the low-rise district and called for condos instead of apartments. Others warned that with just 30 parking spaces, spillover traffic would make streets unsafe. Some critics also blasted renters as transient, while advocates argued the city’s housing crunch makes new supply essential.

The difficulty of pushing multifamily projects into Chicago’s bungalow belt, even near transit, is apparent in several recent moves in the outer stretches of the city proper and suburbs as communities try to balance housing needs with community standards.

A recent plan to rezone Broadway in Edgewater and Uptown that would allow for denser residential projects and more commercial uses had neighborhood groups waging all-out campaigns for and against it.

— Eric Weilbacher