The Chicago City Council has approved plans for the mixed-use development at 2137 West Irving Park Road in North Center. Just a few months ago, we last covered the project when the development team revealed a construction timeline culminating in 2027, with the approval being the last piece missing prior to a groundbreaking this summer.
Site context map of 2137 W Irving Park Rd via Google Maps
Efforts for the project are being led by developer Barrett Homes, with local architecture firm 360 Design Studio working on the plans themselves. The four-story structure will replace a drive-thru bank and parking lot at the intersection with North Hamilton Avenue, just steps from multiple other projects that will deliver over 200 units once all are complete.
Floor plans of 2137 W Irving Park Rd by 360 Design Studio
Capping out at 65 feet in height, the ground floor of the structure will include 4,000 square feet of divisible commercial space and the residential lobby along Irving Park. Behind this will be a 24-vehicle parking garage accessed from Hamilton. The floors above will contain 24 for-sale condominiums made up entirely of three-bedroom layouts.
Elevation of 2137 W Irving Park Rd by 360 Design Studio
All of the residences will have access to a shared rooftop along with a private balcony in each unit, with those along the streetfronts being inset into the structure. The structure itself will be clad in a cast stone and brick exterior. The team will now need to apply for permits prior to breaking ground this summer and delivering the units in 2027.
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Watch out North Center, Lincoln Square is taking over your turf!
I thought the same! One could call this area St. Ben’s, *possibly* even Roscoe Village if North Center sounds too boring (which it does), but it is definitely not Lincoln Square.
There are a LOT of units going up in this area lately/soon (which is a welcome revival, it was pretty sleepy, in the multi-family category, for over a decade).
What’s the latest status of the project at the Lincoln / Damen / Irving park corner?
Good question. That project has been promised for awhile.
Was wondering this. Can Ian shed some light?
This is in absolutely no way Roscoe Village.
chicago needs to get way more aggressive about upzoning. it is madness that city council approval is required to build an completely ordinary 4 story building here (or really anywhere in chicago). lots of smaller/mid-size developers don’t have the resources or political connections to jump through the often arbitrary hoops. meanwhile, rents are skyrocketing due to collapsing housing production.
The completely asinine way that properties were fit into the 2004/2006 revision to the code bears much of the blame. Parcels were zoned according to the then-current use. PDs that weren’t timely developed were allowed to stay in place indefinitely. It was stupid, and a lot of it was about preserving Aldermanic control (aka, honest graft). Not having a system of temporary variances from more general zoning districts was done to avoid “corruption”—hint: didn’t work.
IPR from Ashland to the River has no fewer than 16 zoning districts, not counting PDs and parks. It’s absurd.
This site was mostly B1-1 (the bank) and also B3-1 (the former Simmons Bowling building that is coming down, too). Between Hoyne and Leavitt, there is also B3-2, B2-2 and B1-2–how does that much difference in that homogeneous an area make any sense??
So can we expect this building being finished before a shovel of dirt is turned on either the development on the southwest corner of the Irving Park six corner intersection or the old Chicago Joe’s empty lot?
The idea that rents raise due to lack of production seems a stretch. While the population in most of the north side has increased, it does not match the skyrocketing rent increases. The city could add 250,000 units in a year and prices will continue to rise as they are now modern and new units in a great neighborhood. Other buildings will increase their rents to be competitive. Companies would rather have empty units than drop rents. Developers and banks will always win.
On the north side of where they ceased to add towers as they used to 50 years ago, limiting production, stagnating the supply, and you are here questioning the laws of supply and demand?
“Other buildings will increase their rents to be competitive.” If you oversaturate the supply of new builds and the average new city dweller statistically prefers the low-maintenance route, they will most certainly opt for the better bells and whistles if the price is right. Besides inflation, rent increases when the demand is high. Rents in older buildings fall (as observed in Austin, Minneapolis, San Diego, and Berkeley) when new housing is readily available.
Go be a NIMBY elsewhere.
Do you really believe that the city could increase the supply of rental units by nearly 50% and it would affect rents anywhere in the city?
“Other buildings will increase their rents to be competitive”
Not how being competitive works. In order to be competitive with a superior product, you must lower prices.
Provide an example of rents going down as a result of increased supply in a desirable area? If I charge 1500 for rent and you build new units charging 3,000 for the same size unit but superior finishing. I would raise my rent to 2000 as the market shows there is willingness to pay, and I’m missing out on revenue. As a result, prices continue to climb in the neighborhood as more development comes with individuals moving into the area that can afford it. EXAMPLE: Wicker Park has seen a tremendous growth in supply but prices have not dropped.
I’m not a NIMBY, rather pointing out the simple rule of supply and demand no longer exist.
I’d love to see Chicago follow Ann Arbor zoning requiring major corridors to have a baseline height of 55’ and up to 300’ without additional zoning changes, set maximum parking requirements limits rather than minimum, and require minimum of 18’ setbacks for sidewalks and green space.
Building new units doesn’t change the demand profile. If a new building is constructed that charges $3,000/mo per unit, then any landlord who was previously charging $1,500/mo for the same size apartment is a certified idiot. They could have been charging way more this whole time and yet simply chose not to.
Citing Wicker Park of all places as an example of “tremendous growth” is absurd. Wicker Park is a historic district! The entire neighborhood is registered as a National Landmark! 95% of buildings in that neighborhood are from the 19th century or early 20th century. The neighborhood, architecture-wise, looks almost exactly the same as it did 100 years ago, more than almost any other neighborhood in Chicago, and that’s part of the reason why it’s so gentrified.
Ian—it’s also replacing the building to the west that until recently was home to Simmons Pro Shop—the bowling ball store.