Plans for Old Town Canvas at 1600 N LaSalle Drive are finally moving forward after receiving approval from the Committee on Zoning earlier this week. Located at the intersection with W North Avenue in Old Town, the project has been in development for several years, facing some of the most intense and arguably unwarranted opposition the city has seen in recent memory.
Updated renderings and plans have been revealed for the revised proposal of Old Town Canvas at 1610 N LaSalle Drive in Old Town. Located on the corner with W North Avenue, we recently covered the project’s long road towards Alderman approval after a multi-year process of community feedback and vocal NIMBY’s guarding their views.
Updated details have been revealed for the now approved Old Town Canvas at 1610 N LaSalle Drive in Old Town. Located on the intersection with W North Avenue, the proposed tower has been a major point of contention with the local community and Alderman Brian Hopkins. This all came to a head earlier this month when Hopkins denied the original proposal.
Chicago is known for its diverse neighborhoods, but it is also a city of 50 wards, each led by an alderperson with their own agenda. As 2025 begins, the city is grappling with budget issues, population growth, and rising crime perception, while aldermanic prerogative—where each alderman has veto power over development in their ward—adds another layer of hurdles to solving these challenges. We’ll examine this issue today through the lens of two major residential projects currently stuck in bureaucratic red tape, including Old Town Canvas, which was blocked by Alderman Brian Hopkins just yesterday.
Updated plans have been revealed for the upcoming mixed-use development of ‘Old Town Canvas’ at 1610 N LaSalle Drive in Old Town. Earlier this year we covered the project’s latest update as it continued to deal with the fervent opposition of a few neighbors in the surrounding high-rises, with views, density, and especially traffic as their main concerns.
