(Above) Rendering by GREC Architects of Old Town Canvas.

By Don DeBat and Steven Dahlman

4-Feb-25 – With its treasure trove of landmark buildings, the historic Old Town neighborhood may be one of the finest surviving collections of 1890s architecture in Chicago.

Unfortunately, hundreds of property owners in the Old Town historic district must continually battle high-rise creep, all the time being branded by greedy developers as disgruntled “Not In My Back Yard” (NIMBY) dissidents.

The Old Towners may now be thinking about erecting a statue to honor 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins for rejecting a 44-story, 500-unit high-rise proposal for the northwest corner of LaSalle Drive & North Avenue, one of the busiest intersections on the North Side.

“Old Town Canvas” faced growing opposition from neighbors concerned about the tower’s height and density, and the increased traffic they said the tower would attract. Hundreds of exasperated Old Town residents who oppose the development attended by Zoom a January 9 meeting at The Moody Church, whose expansion plans may have ignited the controversy.

At that meeting, Nick Anderson (left), CEO of Fern Hill Company, explained how their development would reduce neighborhood traffic by razing two nearby gas stations.

It was not enough. In his January 24 newsletter, Hopkins said he shared concerns with prospective neighbors and, though open to compromise, would not be supporting the proposal.

Ten days later, on February 3, Hopkins announced a compromise had been reached. It is a solution, he said, “that decreases the density of the proposal while still delivering a significant investment to Old Town and Chicago.”

The new proposal decreases the number of apartment units from 500 to 349, the height of the building from 480 feet to 379 feet, and the number of parking spaces from 450 to 339. 200 of those parking spaces will be reserved for The Moody Church.

It is a 30 percent decrease in the number of units, a 21 percent decrease in building height, and a 24 percent decrease in the number of parking spaces. GREC Architects

Hopkins says Old Town Canvas will be “substantially shorter” than its three nearest high-rise neighbors.

Fern Hill will contribute $1 million toward the cost of measures to reduce traffic congestion and increase pedestrian safety, which the Chicago Department of Transportation will design and implement.

And, says Hopkins, the long-vacant Treasure Island Foods space (left) just northwest of Old Town Canvas will be reserved for a new grocery store whenever it is found. Google Street View

Owners of the space must keep it vacant for three-and-a-half years or until they sign a new grocery store tenant.

Family-friendly space

Hopkins says Fern Hill has committed to providing “an unusually high proportion of larger, family-sized units.”

While still appealing to those not in need of family-sized units, Old Town Canvas, says Hopkins, “will be a place that those with families can stay longer term.”

“One of Old Town’s greatest assets is in its appeal to people from so many different walks of life, from young professionals to those raising families, to retirees, and everything in between,” said Hopkins (right).

Developer still faces uphill battle

A survey by the Old Town Triangle Association – conducted before the latest proposal – showed that 80 percent of its members are opposed to the development. Old Town Friends for Responsible Development, a new neighborhood group, also is battling the high-rise because in addition to traffic congestion, they say it would detract from the character of the Wells Street retail and residential corridor.

“The Fern Hill development will diminish the quality of life in Old Town,” wrote neighborhood historian Diane Gonzalez (left) in a recent letter to Hopkins. “Quality of life is difficult to measure when compared with a developer’s dollar profit, but this dense project will negatively change our lives.”

“Fern Hill has proposed the most economical tower that could be expeditiously constructed to maximize its investment return,” said Old Town resident Joe Jacobazzi, a licensed structural engineer, but the project, he says, “more closely resembles an office building in a central business district than a residential building near the historic district.”

While hundreds of Old Town residents may be doing cartwheels about the rejection of Fern Hill’s 44-story building proposal, political analysts warn the alderman still has time to do an about-face and approve the developer’s down-sized project.

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