An artist’s rendering of the six-story, 105-unit development planned near the CTA Red Line’s Granville station. A Chicago Plan Commission member said the project is “a classic example of working with the community.” (Photo courtesy of Chicago Department of Planning and Development)

Sam Wickman, at first, was opposed to a six-story development in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood, feeling it would alter the character of the Northeast Side of the city.

However, the more the representative of Organizing Neighborhoods for Equality, a mixed-income, multi-ethnic, inter-generational organization that unites groups and residents of Rogers Park, Edgewater, Uptown, Ravenswood, North Center, Lake View and Lincoln Park, learned about the development, the more she softened.

Now, she totally backs the development along Broadway.

“I love things up in Edgewater,” Wickman said. “This building will keep with what makes this a special part of the city. I see it as a win for the area and for walkers.”

The project’s benefit to walkers is that the 105-unit development adjacent to the Chicago Transit Authority Red Line’s Granville station will reduce curb cuts in the heavy pedestrian area. A car wash and cellular telephone store will be razed to make room for the development

Alderman Harry Osterman (48^th Ward), whose ward includes Edgewater, called the project “a real blue print for future development along Broadway.”

“The project will create a good vibrant place which goes along with the existing community,” Osterman said.

Osterman, like Wickman, was not on board with the project at 6145 N. Broadway, initially. Last fall, the developer, City Pads LLC, had proposed 187 residential units — more than 80 percent which would have been studio units — and 60 parking spots on the site. The alderman, critical of the project at the outset, said that community meetings got the development team to modify its plans to better reflect the Edgewater community’s desires.

Area residents’ concerns about density, the impact on street parking, and the low concentration of one- and two-bedroom units that would draw families to the neighborhood got City Pads to go back to the drawing board.

Plans were revised to 105 units — with 43 percent studios, 38 percent one bedroom and 19 percent two bedrooms — and 45 parking spots. The project also includes 4,100 square feet of first-floor commercial space. A CTA display terminal will be included in the lobby of the residential units.

Noah Szafraniec, supervising zoning plan examiner for the city, said the project is “appropriate and fits with the character of the neighborhood.”

Members of the Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved the project Thursday (April 20).

City Zoning Administrator Patricia Scudiero, a resident of the area, said the project will be a benefit to the neighborhood.

“I am disappointed to see my hand car wash go away,” Scudiero said, “but I am happy to see curb cuts going away. A lot of people walk around the community. We have a lot of dog walkers, people walking to businesses in the area … This will make it safer for walkers, and I really believe this will make it safer and better for the community.”

City Pads is not required to provide any “affordable” units, under city ordinance, but the company is keeping that option open, Szafraniec said.

Andrew Ahitow, a managing principal of City Pads, said he expects at least 10 percent of the building’s 105 units will be “affordable” under the city’s definition. He said that figure could go up to as high as 20 percent.

Commissioner Sarah Lyons said the project wound up being a win for the developer and for the community.

“I think it is a classic example of working with the community,” Lyons said.

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