Real Estate & Development News
Parkview Lofts and Parkview Commerce, two conjoined development projects at 2159 and 2139 W. Pershing Road, Chicago, moved forward with community outreach at the Wednesday, February 20, meeting of the McKinley Park Development Council. The Parkview projects look to completely overhaul the two massive, vacant Central Manufacturing District buildings currently occupying the properties, filling them with more than 150 apartment residences and over 75,000 square feet of commercial space while retaining the historic presence of the buildings, developers said.
Thomas Brantley, part of the Code Real Estate Partners team shepherding the development, outlined their plan at the council meeting and tallied the two projects' estimated cost of over $60 million. Build-out of the all-residential Parkview Lofts at 2159 W. Pershing would precede construction of Parkview Commerce, its mixed-use neighbor at 2139 W. Pershing Road, Brantley said, with a target construction start date of spring 2020.
Read more: Apartments, Commercial Space Pegged for Parkview Developments on Pershing Road
In a February 14, 2019, letter, Chicago Department of Buildings Commissioner Judith Frydland addressed issues surrounding approval of work on the former ice storage warehouse at 2133 W. Pershing Road, Chicago, noting problems in the city's data-collection practices and the mistaken issuance of a January 23, 2019, stop work order.
As previously reported here in the McKinley Park News, the development has undergone scrutiny based on city action now known to be tied to errors in addressing in Department of Buildings systems. "The ownership has fully cooperated" in resolving the issue, the letter stated, including developer Aberdeen Development Inc. suspending all exterior demolition work until a Department of Buildings review is completed.
Read more: City of Chicago Acknowledges Errors, Confirms OK for Current Ice Warehouse Work
A major development on Pershing Road in the Central Manufacturing District is under fire from a Chicago-based preservation group, with the project's developer asserting he's been acting in good faith to legally redevelop the property. Preservation Chicago, a non-profit that champions Chicago's historic environment and buildings, issued a press release on February 13, 2019, decrying the process for demolition at the former ice storage warehouse at 2133 W. Pershing Road and pushing for establishment of mandated protections for the area.
"We need a Chicago Landmark District to protect these buildings from further destruction," said Preservation Chicago Executive Director Ward Miller. "Preservation-sensitive redevelopment can go forward with great incentives, if employed."
Read more: Former Ice Warehouse Subject of Redevelopment Scrutiny
Three neighborhood enterprises have successfully landed grants from the Small Business Improvement Fund of Chicago's Archer and Western Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District to help improve their properties in 2019. The building for the Aquinas Literacy Center at 1751 W. 35th St., the prospective restaurant space at 1734 W. 35th St. and the Topnotch Silkscreening building at 3382 S. Archer Ave. all were approved by Chicago's Department of Planning and Development for significant funding of their property improvement costs.
Aquinas and property owner Kenneth Ricci stand to get 50 percent of the costs funded toward improving the building's frontage. "Our goal is to improve the facade so it is whole and it energizes the community," said Aquinas Executive Director Alison Altmeyer. In addition to swapping existing siding for brick veneer, the street-facing Aquinas facade will get new storefront elements, including a new door, aluminum framing and double-insulated glass windows.
Read more: Local Enterprises Land Grant Funding Toward Building Improvements
Multiple developments with budgets in the tens of millions of dollars are currently underway or lined up as likely prospects for major structures of the Central Manufacturing District in Chicago's McKinley Park neighborhood, according to information provided at the Wednesday, January 16, meeting of the McKinley Park Development Council. A standing-room-only crowd packed a meeting room at the McKinley Park field house for a presentation on active rehabilitation of the former cold storage warehouse at Pershing Road and Damen Avenue, as well as updates on two other major prospective development projects on Pershing Road.
"We want to become part of the fabric of the area," said Aberdeen Development Inc.'s Joseph Panfil, who spoke on his company's currently active rehabilitation of 2055-2133 W. Pershing Road, comprising multiple lots and two buildings, including the cold storage warehouse. "We're going to create a community," he said.
Read more: Development Poised to Boom on Pershing Road in McKinley Park
