30-unit building targeted for site across from Jefferson Park CTA Terminal
by BRIAN NADIG
An approximately 30-unit apartment building reportedly is being planned for a vacant parcel at 4900-08 N. Milwaukee Ave., across from the Jefferson Park CTA Terminal.
The site was once home to Edward Fox Photography and Ernest Myers Interiors. Both storefront buildings have been demolished.
The site’s owner had initially planned to build a mixed-use project on only the photography studio site under the existing zoning but dropped those plans after later acquiring the adjacent upholstery story site. The revised plan requires a zoning change to accommodate a larger building over the entire parcel.
Alderman John Arena (45th) recently told Jefferson Park Forward that he asked the site’s developer to keep the building’s height in line with properties located on Higgins Avenue behind the site. The tallest building on that section of Higgins is four stories.
Few other details of the project have been released, but it is believed that the 45th Ward Advisory Committee, whose meetings are closed to the public, has reviewed plans for the site.
The committee includes architects, a commercial property owner at Six Corners and the executive director of a business organization, according to recent documents released by the City of Chicago in response to Freedom of Information requests.
The documents, which include e-mail conversations between Arena and some developers in the ward, reveal that the alderman seeks input from committee members on a variety of redevelopment issues.
Meanwhile, a possible redevelopment project could be in the works for the site of TCF Bank, 4930 N. Milwaukee Ave. A bank representative has said that a variety of options are being explored for the property.
