(Above, inset) Exposed rebar of concrete surface on top floor of parking garage. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

By Don DeBat

12-Jul-24 – The Piper’s Alley garage on the southern edge of the landmark Old Town Historic District is in the crosshairs of neighborhood activists seeking to protect the area from a high-rise explosion.

The aging garage is suffering from deferred maintenance caused by extreme neglect, evidence suggests, making it a public safety issue. “In addition to a broken garage elevator, there appears to be a tremendous amount of structural deterioration – spalling [cracked] concrete, exposed reinforcing steel bars on the top floor garage deck, as well as advanced deterioration of the garage staircase,” reports an Old Town neighborhood source. (Left) Top floor of parking garage on June 19.

Real estate experts suggest this shoddy garage maintenance is a harbinger of a secret plan to tear down the deteriorating parking facility to make way for at least one and maybe two high-rises following a pending rezoning move.

A rezoning application obtained by The Home Front in late May calls for more than rezoning of a proposed 44-story apartment tower proposed for a vacant Moody Church parking lot at 1610 North LaSalle Street. It also includes the Piper’s Alley tract, owned by Old Town Development Associates, LLC, a partnership headed by politically connected Thomas M. Tully, who served as Cook County Assessor from 1974 through 1978. (Right) Overhead view of the concrete garage staircase.

Fern Hill Company, developer of the proposed 500-unit Old Town Canvas high-rise, apparently is planning – through various partnerships – to stretch the “land canvas” for at least two additional towers along North Avenue west of Wells Street.

In play in this rezoning chess game is the Piper’s Alley complex, including Starbucks, The Second City, XSport Fitness, and more than a dozen commercial properties that ring the northwest corner of North & Wells running west to North Park Avenue. Piper’s Alley is within a stone’s throw of the Old Town Triangle historic district.

(Left) Map of area between LaSalle Drive and North Park Avenue, east to west, and North Avenue to Eugenie Street, south to north.

Zoning experts say the rezoning of the 84,078-square-foot Piper’s Alley site to allow a floor-area-ratio (FAR) of 420,390 square feet could eventually pave the way for two additional high-rise towers on the north side of North Avenue between Wells and North Park.

As proposed, the sweeping zoning changes under Fern Hill’s planned development could result in up to 1,400 new residential units housing upwards of 4,000 to 5,000 new residents along a two-block stretch of North Avenue between LaSalle and North Park.

Although Fern Hill’s rezoning application does not immediately allow residential units on the Piper’s Alley commercial site, that may happen in the future. The rezoning application also provides that the 392 parking spaces in the deteriorating Piper’s Alley garage could be removed at the time of that parcel’s site plan approval, resulting in a sharp reduction in much-needed area parking. (Right) Wider view of top floor of parking garage.

The Pipers Alley block of buildings was downzoned in the 1970s with petitions from area residents supported by alderpersons Vi Daley and Michelle Smith. Residents say they do not want Old Town to become like River North or the West Loop with high-rise-dense neighborhoods.

Residents and building owners in the coveted Old Town Triangle historic district are overwhelmingly against a proposed 44-story Old Town Canvas monolith. Now, they say they have another battle looming to fight in the high-rise war developing in Piper’s Alley.

Opponents say proposed ‘Canvas’ is too tall and disruptive for neighborhood

The charming Old Town Historic District contains 523 magnificently restored Victorian buildings – some museum-quality. Nearly all structures are single-family residences or walk-up apartments built prior to 1950.

The Old Town Triangle, bounded roughly by North Avenue, Wells Street, Lincoln Avenue, Clark Street, and a string of side streets on the west, is home to the annual Old Town Art Fair and Garden Walk.

Opponents of Fern Hill’s 500-unit project have formed a coalition, citing concerns about its size, public safety, and probable impact on traffic.

Old Town Friends for Responsible Development (OTFRD) argues that the proposed building, with its large number of rental apartment units, is excessive for the neighborhood. OTFRD is advocating for a reduced height of no more than ten stories.

The opposition says the massive multifamily project would be too large and disruptive. In addition, they are seeking assurances regarding mitigated traffic and disruption to local businesses during construction.

OTFRD is a grassroots coalition comprised of more than 1,500 residents of Old Town, Gold Coast, and Lincoln Park, including condominium boards and businesses.

Erecting high-rises on the corners of North & LaSalle and on the Piper’s Alley site likely would create non-stop art-fair-like traffic 52 weeks a year, critics say.

To date, Fern Hill’s CEO Nick Anderson (left) has dodged questions about the anticipated vehicular traffic that can be reasonably anticipated from the rezoning of the Piper’s Alley parcel, or the proposed 500-unit apartment tower at 1610 North LaSalle Street.

Traffic impact studies beyond the intersections of Wells & North and LaSalle & North have not been provided to the impacted residents.

Another neighborhood group, Old Town Triangle Association (OTTA), recently released a property owner survey showing that 84 percent of survey respondents expressed opposition to Fern Hill’s high-rise project density and rezoning application, noted OTTA president Raymond Clark.

“The OTTA has sought to preserve the historic and cultural heritage of the Old Town Triangle since the 1940s, which culminated in major rezoning changes in the 1970s, including the formation of the Old Town Triangle Historic District,” said Clark (right).

“While we do have a few high-rise residential buildings inside the Triangle boundaries, they are not sited immediately adjacent to the parcels at issue here but are instead peppered along Wells Street, Clark Street, and LaSalle Street north of North Avenue,” he said.

More info:

• Old Town Friends for Responsible Development
• Old Town Triangle Association

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