Permit pending to build 14 units on longtime vacant parcel at Northwest Hwy & Carmen in Jefferson Park, although property also for sale
by BRIAN NADIG
A construction permit is pending for a 14-unit residential building at 5069-75 N. Northwest Hwy. in Jefferson Park at the same time a “for sale” sign was posted on the vacant parcel.
The permit application call for a three-story masonry structure with a rooftop deck and 14 on-site parking spaces. The permit was filed in February, but some processing of the application occurred late last month. The for sale sign was posted last week.
The 14,749-square-foot site runs along both Northwest Highway and Carmen Avenue and is located just to the south of the parking garage for the 16th (Jefferson Park) Police District Station, 5151 N. Milwaukee Ave. The parcel has been vacant for about 15 years.
In 2007 the property was rezoned to RM-4.5 to allow for a 14-unit building with a 14-space underground parking garage, but the project was never built.
In 2020 a proposal to rezone the property to build a 36-unit building with 15 parking spaces failed to materialize due to parking and density concerns of area residents. Alderman James Gardiner (45th) cited those concerns in his opposition to the proposed zoning.
The 2020 proposal sought reductions in parking requirements and extra density allowances due to the site’s proximity to the Jefferson Park Metra Station, 5020 N. Northwest Hwy, as the project would have qualified as a transit-oriented development. Otherwise, the project would have been limited to 29 apartments under the zoning proposal, and at least one parking space per unit would have been required.
It is not clear why the property is for sale at the same time the construction permit to build is pending. In some instances development sites are sold with an approved permit, and the buyer can build using that permit along as certain items, such as the owner’s name and contact and insurance information, are updated with the city.
A real estate agent representing the property could not be reached for comment.
The Northwest Highway site is one of many in the Jefferson Park area where the property was upzoned, but construction has never taken place. Others include the site of a proposed 16-story building with 114 units at 5306 W. Ainslie St. and a proposed five-story structure with 31 units at 4900 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Last year Gardiner had the site of a proposed 48-unit apartment complex at 5338-52 W. Argyle St. downzoned after the property went up for sale. The property was upzoned six years ago, but the project was never built.
