13-Aug-21 – Hoping to raise more than $10 million, the City of Chicago is planning to sell four North Side parking lots that a city commissioner says are “underutilized.”

Located at 1530 West Barry Avenue and 1635 West Melrose Street in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood, 4050 North LaPorte Avenue in Portage Park, and 3840 North Lincoln Avenue in North Center, the lots range in size from 26 to 111 parking spaces. They all serve the Lincoln/Belmont/Ashland business district, once one of the busiest neighborhood shopping districts in the city, though it now has many vacant storefronts.

Some of the now-closed stores on Lincoln Avenue had back doors that gave shoppers easy access to the Barry Avenue parking lot (left).

Ever since an apartment building was built at the corner of Belmont & Greenview Avenues, the lot is not as visible from Belmont as it once was.

The parking lot at 1635 West Melrose Street was built on the site of Math Igler’s Casino, a once-popular German restaurant known for its singing waiters. The site was acquired by the City of Chicago through eminent domain to replace a city parking lot that had been west of the restaurant.

In addition to serving nearby daytime businesses, the parking lot at 3840 North Lincoln Avenue is used by Martyrs’, a concert venue at 3855 North Lincoln Avenue that attracts national and international recording artists.

The city is offering to give away a fifth parking lot, at 4715 North Western Avenue in Lincoln Square, to Boston-based developer The Community Builders for one dollar.

Maurice Cox, Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, says with the pandemic and many businesses not operating normally, demand for the parking lots has declined.

“These city-owned properties have very limited demand for public parking anymore so we’re entertaining purchase offers that maximize their value for taxpayers,” said Cox (right). “Their sales will also enable improvements that contribute to local development patterns and overall neighborhood livability.”

The North Center and Portage Park properties are being re-zoned to new district designations that, says Cox, are commensurate with adjacent land uses.

The commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield was retained by the City of Chicago this summer to market and solicit offers for each site. Each proposed sale would require approval by the Chicago City Council after a 30-day period in which alternative proposals would be heard from other potential buyers.