Development Update: March 2009

By by Dennis McClendon

Roosevelt University Dorm

Growing college enrollments have developers making plans for three new student residences despite the economic downturn. The owners of the Buckingham, at 67 E. Van Buren, are planning a large expansion of that student residence. A new building on the parking lot at the corner of Van Buren and Wabash would rise 37 stories and be home to 1200 students. The project would be completed by the beginning of the 2011 academic year.

In the middle of the same block, Roosevelt University has plans to replace the current Herman Crown Hall with a 400-500 foot tall residence hall.

The City of Chicago has chosen Kargil Development to redevelop the parking lot just north of the Roosevelt Hotel, in the 1100 block of Wabash. Kargil plans a student housing project as well, which will require no parking.

Still in doubt is the fate of the Fine Arts Annex, a small five story building designed by Andrew Rebori that many think deserves Chicago Landmark status. In 2007, Roosevelt bought the small building, which stands just north of Crown Hall.

Columbia College's Media Production Center is under construction at the southwest corner of 16th and State. The two-story building, designed by Studio Gang Architects, will include sound stages, various studios, and editing facilities for the college, whose national reputation as a film school has been hampered by having no studio space.

Avalon Bay's project at the southwest corner of Polk & Clark is dead. Avalon Bay, which owns and manages apartment complexes all across the country, has closed its Chicago development office. And D2 Development has cancelled plans for an apartment building between Amli 900 and Target.

A total replacement building for Jones College Prep is officially "on hold" for the moment but could be revived quickly under new Board of Education leadership, or with newly available stimulus money. Under the plan, a new seven-story building would occupy the former Pacific Garden Mission site, extending all the way to Polk. The current building site could then be sold for redevelopment. A local school council meeting was held in January to discuss ways that an expanded Jones might also serve neighborhood residents.

The Church of Scientology's application for rezoning of the Artcraft Building at 650 S. Clark has been approved by the City Council Committee on Zoning. The church plans to renovate the building, one of the city's finest examples of Arts & Crafts design, as its primary Chicago facility.

A small addition to 1212 South Michigan is in the works. By reconfiguring workout room and racquetball court space next to the alley and taking in a small unused lawn area on the corner of Roosevelt and Michigan, the building's owners will create space for a two-story (plus roof deck) restaurant and sports-themed bar.

Columbia College Media Production Center