Demolition has rendered mostly unrecognizable the shops and apartments that used to occupy 917 through 925 West Belmont Avenue in Lake View. Permission to tear down the building came in on July 18, with the rear lot having been fenced off well before the demo permit came through. As of July 29, progress had reached the facades along the street front.
Rendering of 925 West Belmont by Eckenhoff Saunders Architects
Photo by Daniel Schell
ANother storefront view. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
YIMBY updated you on new renderings from design firm Eckenhoff Saunders Architects last month for the residential project to come, and since it is being built as of right, no zoning approvals or Plan Commission blessing is needed. The five-story, 46-unit building from Mavrek Development has a pending permit in the Chicago Data Portal addressed as 919 West Belmont. And with demolition work advancing quickly, that could be issued at any time. Mavrek will also handle general contractor duties.
Rendering of 925 West Belmont by Eckenhoff Saunders Architects
This photo taken July 5 shows the rear parking lot already fenced off for demolition. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
As of July 29, little remained but the façades. Photo by Daniel Schell
Palletized bricks for salvaging. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
925 West Belmont is located half a block from the Belmont Red/Brown/Purple Line elevated platform. The Route 77 Belmont bus stops at the station, and north-south service is available via Route 22 buses just one block east at Clark Street. Only six parking spaces will be included in this Transit Oriented Development.
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Horrible project, downgrade.
If you’re gonna tear this stuff down, it should be for a denser project and there should not be a gap in the streetscape
100%
Not a fan of the side lot. This stretch of Belmont has heavy foot traffic with people popping in and out of shops. They should’ve designed in a way that doesn’t create this gap in retail.
I was really hoping this died and wasn’t moving forward. What an absolute waste of a great location.
Worst development ever!! The Alderperson destroyed local mom and pops instead of supporting them. Shame on him! And all for a ghastly blob of s**t.
100% agreed. Unbelievable level of destruction of historical urban streetscape for banality that I’ve seen in Anytown, USA.
Worst development ever!! The Alderperson destroyed local mom and pops instead of supporting them. Shame on him! And all for a ghastly blob of s**t.
This 💩 show of a project is the greedy work of the former alderman in that district. He wants to be set for life with this deplorable.
The comments here are spot on…nothing for me to say other then the fix was in from day one
Is there a single god-damn commenter on this website who isn’t opposed to 95% of brownfield development?
Every single time there’s something actually getting built: ooooh it’s so ugly, oooooh the greedy developers forced it through, oooooooooooh why did we have to demolish what was originally there
Then you tell me what was wrong with what was there that couldn’t be rehabbed.
It was 2 stories instead of 5.
People like living in new buildings more than they like living in old buildings.
The new design has much more space for windows, natural light, and balconies.
We have no reason to destroy a beautiful strips of locally owned shops or beautiful old architecture. The strip of shops that was here is what cities are supposed to look like, with multiple small storefronts which make walkability actually work. At the very least this development should have mimicked the old design and just added density. Did you even read what the comments said? They’re right, especially what was said about the added “gap” in the streetscape thanks to this.
by the way the beautiful old architecture I was referring to was more about the Wrigley demos, not these
Everyone needs to keep in mind it was lack of financing not the alderman which trimmed this project. Blame chicagos uncertain tax future for this turd.
This is also the max number of units that can be built without needing a zoning change. While finances was the official reasoning, needing to go through the risk and financial cost of a zoning change vs immediately building was likely a major factor. Zoning brought this development, that’s in maybe the best location for public transit anywhere in the city, from 200 to 46 units.