Plans have been revealed for a new mixed-use development at 2119 West Grand Avenue in West Town. Located mid-block between North Hoyne Avenue and North Leavitt Street, the proposal is set to replace a large vacant lot near the western end of the neighborhood. Efforts for the project are being led by a duo of local developers under an LLC.
Site context map of 2119 W Grand Ave via Google Maps
It is worth noting that the new proposal is just steps away from several others, including 2315 Grand Avenue and its neighbor 2323 Grand Avenue, which are set to revitalize the predominantly commercial corridor. Similar to the two mentioned above, this development at 2119 Grand is also being designed by local firm Hanna Architects.
Floor plans of 2119 W Grand Ave by Hanna Architects
The building will rise five stories and roughly 60 feet tall, covering the majority of the 13,100-square-foot site. The basement will feature a large parking garage, combined with additional spots along the alley for a total of 34 parking spaces. This will be joined by 5,400 square feet of ground-floor retail spread across two suites, along with a small lobby.
Elevation of 2119 W Grand Ave by Hanna Architects
The floors above will hold 48 residential units made up of one- and two-bedroom layouts. Residents will also have access to a shared rooftop deck. The building will be clad predominantly in brick, with large arched bays of inset balconies. A zoning application has been submitted for the project, which will now need approval from the city; no timeline has been revealed.
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look I’m not saying that that having protected bikes lanes is the reason this “revitalization” but I’m not NOT saying that
I don’t have a problem with bike lanes. But I’m on this stretch all the time and I almost never bikes using them. There is a reasonable compromise somewhere between no bike lanes at all and sparsely used ones that take up as much space as car lanes. But the City of Chicago doesn’t do reasonable.
We let cars have more than 99% of the roads in the city, including street parking, residential side streets, highways, and main thoroughfares. Bikes are better for the environment, personal health, and the city budget as wear & tear is much lower. Not to mention the more drivers we get off the streets the safer our streets will be.
Bikes are currently a minimum of 4% of all traffic in Chicago and get less than 0.5% of all road space. Doesn’t sound reasonable to me.
400lux, again, I have no problem with bike lanes. But I do not believe that bikes make up 4% of traffic in Chicago because of, well, my eyes. Active Transportation Alliance had a figure of 1.7% in 2020. If it has doubled since then I would be surprised. And, back to my point about that stretch of Grand, there is a lot of bike infrastructure that is not being used.
Revitalize? The area has been active for many years with businesses and residents who could receive deliveries and navigate Grand Avenue. Now the street was redesigned from Western to Damen and there is no room for drop-off or deliveries. Traffic is backed up with Amazon, UPS and other vehicles attempting to double park in the lanes of traffic.
Let’s say it’s a disaster.
The city is continuing their disaster street redesign from Damen to Ashland against the wishes of the residents.
The disaster street design is the current design, not the one adding bike lanes.
Do you live there? No you don’t. I do and the new configuration is a safety issue for everyone, especially first responders. JUNK idea.
You people act like there weren’t plenty of community meetings and input from people who live in the area. Clearly there’s a demand. You just don’t like that you can’t speed as fast in your car. You’ll live.
The cars causing the congestion are the issue for first responders. The new street design has literally reduced crashes for all road users, it has made the street safer for pedestrians, cyclists AND drivers.
Just because you live somewhere doesn’t invalidate your ignorance about what street safety actually means.
Yes because deliveries matter more than the lives of those that use bikes. WONT ANYONE THINK OF HOW UPS AND AMAZON MIGHT FEEL!
== there is no room for drop-off or deliveries. ==
There’s plenty of room for bike deliveries. Every other developed dense city has figured out how to do deliveries with appropriate and human-sized streets (not giant 4 lane monstrosities). Stop whining and join the 21st century already.
That’s a very good point Patrick. Chicago is getting denser and growing up, which means space will be more and more at a premium. Large size cars and trucks just won’t work in many places anymore, and most of the rest of the world acknowledges and adapts to this reality.
How do you know Lana? I could be your neighbor, or I could have lived in the area recently.
Lana, girl. I thought you lived in River North.
Actually the residents of West Town are quite happy with the changes on Grand. I am one.
Bike lanes go in, a ton of vacant lots get developed into housing, the area gets more attractive and your take is that they have been bad for the area? lol
That’s an interestingly bad take.
Also, there were a plethora of community meetings on the bike lanes and neighbors overwhelmingly supported them.
Nope, we were all at those meetings. Your take is incorrect.
So was I, & you just blocked out your neighbors who support street safety because it was inconvenient to your windshield perspective.
Lol I walk this stretch of Grand quite often. As far as Chicago goes, it’s been one of the most egregiously violent stretches of stroad for pedestrians and bikers piercing through an area that deserves to be walkable and bikeable given its proximity to downtown and potential for density. This redesigned plan is a MAJOR improvement that is definitely spurring positive growth.
When the only people complaining are drivers that unnecessarily poison our air and make our neighborhoods less safe, that’s mission accomplished in my book.
If it’s known that two developers are involved why not mention the names? One and two bedroom units points to a for lease exit, any insight? Less than a 1 to 1 ratio of parking indicates a TOD development but is this where bus transportation is counted?
We could publish their names if that is preferred going forward. No confirmation on lease or sale yet.
Glad they are making Grand Nice! The bike lanes have really done wonders for making the area attractive, instead of a strange, dead, space.
Nope it was always great. Where do you reside? In the area?
60mph speeding cars down Grand Ave was great?! what are you smoking girlfriend?!
Grand was genuinely the worst E-W street in Chicago north of the railroad tracks. It was not even close lmao sorry you can’t do 60mph down it at 9pm anymore!
As much as Hanna gets crap, can’t fault a nicely detailed brick box.
Is it possible that renderings could look better than what’s actually going to be built? Can architectural drawings just be used to gain approval? All the while the architect’s paying customers understand that a less expensive and uglier version will really be built with less detail? Is there any review process for ensuring that the building actually includes the more expensive historically appropriate details?
Bike lanes are a style statement, nothing more.
Like 5 people use these bike lanes, and in winter maybe one hardcore enthusiast.
I am all for encouraging transit, walking, and reducing parking. But bike lanes outside of the densest areas are mostly just something you install because they are cool and “we need to copy New York”
Haha cope harder. Bike lanes make the street safer for everyone and encourage development. Sorry you can’t speed to your destination in your car as fast as you could before. Woe is you
Man, I don’t live in that area and I’ve never driven down that road even once.
I’m just speaking in general terms. Every time I’m in the city I see like a FEW people in the bike lanes. But not many. Lets not lie to ourselves: people aren’t using them that much. They are mostly a waste of space and you know it.
In NYC and Washington DC bike lanes are far more heavily used. Not so much in Chicago. I know in Chicago we want to do the “in” thing, but I’m calling style > substance on this one….
A big part of it is because the CTA is so ghetto and dangerous, the CTA el train doesn’t go to many places and the busses are too slow and infrequent; so driving is better, and well it’s just way to easy and convenient to drive in this damn town. Chicago is still low density with barely anything exceeding two stories, but maybe over time we will densify.
Correct. CTA is unsafe. If you can afford to drive you do. Buses are ok but the traffic on Grand is backed up with this 2 lane concept. More wasted time and money. Apathy resounds.
An incomplete biking grid has been observed as underutilized??
Holy sh*t, you must be a rocket scientist. What an astute observation. Not even the legendary local NIMBY Lana could make these connections.
You don’t see people in bike lanes because they’re 10% the size of a 4-door living room on wheels and they don’t get stuck in traffic. Divvy is routinely hitting 40k+ rides per day, and assuming charitably that only 1 in 3 bikes are Divvies (far lower in my estimate) that’s nearly 200k bike rides per day on a good day with a crappy underdeveloped network. It’s growing every day and Chicago will become a major bike city no matter what.
Do you have more than anecdotal data backing you up that nobody really uses these bike lanes? And how do you factor in latent demand that can’t be fully realized until a safe and connected network of lanes are installed? It’d be like saying nobody drives a car because the road just randomly turns into random gravel in places, therefore nobody wants to drive.
The completeness and safety of non-car-based transportation matters. If it’s safe and easy, many more thousands and tens of thousands of people will bike. It’s universal in every major city around the world.
“Every time I’m in the city I see like a FEW people in the bike lanes.”
Oh, so you don’t live here, you just have anecdotal evidence. Cool. Cool cool cool.
Bike lanes are not a waste of space. A full bike infrastructure takes time, but you better believe I see tons of people out on bikes every day and can only imagine how much more use it’d get with more protected lanes. Call it style over substance if it makes your pedestal feel taller, but they calm traffic, provide multi-modal means of transportation, and are better for the environment. Cope harder, babe.
Amen Tupper, it’s another propaganda piece. No one uses the bike lanes on Grand because Hubbard is much safer. It’s another psyop. The people commenting on here live North of North Avenue and/or are paid to post. We voted against this but the city wants to pay their subs to launder more money and tax us more. I will continue to observe this mess.
Detective Lana is on the case!
Wait till you dig up the mess of which is CDoT unable to control their busiest streets, a previous mayor selling your soul for parking meters, and the huge IN connection that makes the city 0 money.
But yes, it’s the bikes that might just be what breaks the camel’s back.
Wow, gorgeous facade! Couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it came from Hanna “Architects”. Glad to see them step up their game and contribute more meaningful developments in the city.
Hanna is clearly capable. They’ve had several stunners in the past.
The bigger issue is they also accept bottom of the barrel work. Developers putting in the least amount of effort on design and then expecting to cash in big on a supply squeeze is gross. If their bare bones architecture was more of a result for units under $300k, then the toleration bar might be more forgiving.
LOL. I live in the area too, and can tell you traffic is not a problem whatsoever on Grand. Less speeding, but no backups whatsoever. Anyone who says they have had a negative impact is just mad for their own self interests.
In fact, the only business on Grand to close since the lanes were completed is, ironically, the bike shop that was at Grand & Western. I spoke with one of the staff my last time there ahead of the closure and he told me the problem was that the lanes didn’t go far enough to bring people in.
These people just hate change, plain and simple. If the road was widened they would hate it too. Even if the road was narrowed and bike lanes weren’t put in, it would be a massive improvement. The bike lanes are just the cherry on top of traffic calming and beautifying the ugliest and worst land use major E-W street on the entire North Side.
The floorplans are awful. The city should not allow developers to build on entire lots. The square-footage-maxing results in this garbage.
You know a neighborhood has become ‘hot’ when the locals start complaining. Just remind them of their increasing property values and they’ll calm down.
Not sure what you say is true just ask people who live by the Obama center
yes and the minority sunbs that haven’t been paid…make it make sense…
They don’t own. They are renters. “Locals” are those who own something in a locality.
The inability to see the forest for the trees in this discussion is simply astounding. The embrace of ‘victimhood’ is amazing. No one accepts any responsibility for the way anything is at all, as if aliens from another planet created West Town.
For the first time in a long time, John Hanna’s design isn’t the primary point of contention on these articles. Honestly feels like he put some effort in here.
Cool design! The window style gives nice aesthetic interest and depth.
Hanna can surprise you with some really nice buildings with good detailing and proportions once in a while. Then you get another 10-15 of his generic, stripped down balcony boxes in great locations and the process of hating that he has a monopoly starts over.
The proposal for 2758 N. Mozart is stunning. A building that I wish would set the standard for modern infill in Chicago. New blood getting a chance to design more buildings will hopefully lead to a decline in Hanna’s reign over the city or challenge him to evolve.
I live in the neighborhood and I love seeing the continued development to fill in the empty lots. I live on Grand Ave near an upgraded portion with the bike lanes and I am looking forward to it being extended eastward.
Looking forward to a more vibrant neighborhood with less empty lots.
Same Ryan, I live near Grand just west of western and the bike lanes have been amazing. Lot long until this development makes Grand a delightful stretch after being pretty blighted for a while. Can’t wait until construction begins east of Damen!
Ian, YIMBY team – just a thought for content; it would be really interesting to have an interview with / feature on Hanna Architects. Who are they? How big is their team? How did they get started? How have they (seemingly) cornered the market on mid-rise design in this city? How do different developer budgets impact their material choice, intricacy of designs, etc.?
I imagine somebody there would sit for an interview, and it would be a cool peek behind the curtain into an operation we read so much about. Just a thought.