Developers presented a new, shortened version of the Evanston skyscraper at Tuesday’s Development and Planning Committee meeting that will bring the controversial building down to 38-stories from the initial 49-story design.
Revisions to the plan come after almost a year of ongoing battles and debates between developers and residents over issues concerning the loss of retail space, the economic benefits for the city and the height of the proposed tower.
The evening’s crowd of about 80 people, which barely filled the front room, was considerably smaller than last week’s massive turnout. Audience members who attended followed along closely as the architect explained the new plan.
The planning commission requested the session at a previous meeting to allow the developers time to tweak the plans and address concerns from the committee and community members.
The new proposal will lower the tower by more than 100 feet, but architect Laurence Booth along with developers Tim Anderson and James Klutznick still face a tough battle to gain approval for the project.
In the presentation, Booth said developers wanted to “stick to their guns” and create a tower that would stand as the centerpiece for the city providing unity among the buildings. The tower at its conception would have been nearly double the size of the tallest building in Evanston.
“It’s not just the height,” that concerns residents though, said Rachel Pevine, a graphic designer from Evanston who has been closely following the tower’s development.
It is the loss of “a diverse retail atmosphere,” Pevine said, that worries her most.
The tower, which will house 218 condos and 30,000 square feet of retail space, is planned for the triangular lot that sits between Orrington and Sherman avenues. Some people, like Pevine, fear that only big-box retailers will be able to afford the new space.
Those in the crowd who favor the plan painted a much different picture. They described a vital and booming downtown with the tower standing as its centerpiece.
“It’s not like the poster you see all over town,” Butler Adams said, referring to ‘save Evanston/no tower’ posters and yards signs that residents have taken to posting in their yards.
“Evanston isn’t just quaint Victorian houses. It is an urban area,” he said. Adams, a student at Illinois Institute of Technology, came to support the plan he feels will bring a needed revitalization to the area.
“Will you vote for this one?” Booth joked with audience member Renee Summers before the session started. “No,” Summers said quickly.
Summers, a resident of Evanston and a therapist, has an office at 708 Church St., the proposed site for the building. If the plan goes ahead, she will be forced to move her business. And the idea, she said, is not feasible due to the lack of available space in Evanston.
Either way, both sides will have to wait and see, as a new set of public meetings have been scheduled BY the committee to further address and discuss the economic and design benefits of the tower.
The next meetings are scheduled for April 30 and May 7th. Both will be held at 6:30 P.M. at the Evanston Civic Center.
