Page 4 - CooperatorNews Chicagoland Fall 2021

4 COOPERATORNEWS CHICAGOLAND
—FALL 2021
CHICAGO.COOPERATORNEWS.COM
Industry Pulse
Events
We’re Back, Baby! CooperatorEvents
Expo Returns to Chi-Town this Fall!
ilexpo.com
CooperatorEvents is thrilled to an-
nounce the return of our in-person Ex-
pos! This fall, the CooperatorEvents
Chicagoland Expo will take place at Navy
Pier on Thursday, October 7, 2021, from
10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We have an excit-
ing lineup of exhibitors eager to interact
in person, covering every aspect of mul-
tifamily living, from board governance,
financial planning, and community en-
gagement to roof repair, energy man-
agement, and lawncare. Like our past
in-person Expos, the CooperatorEvents
Chicagoland Fall Expo 2021 will include
a full day of free workshops, seminars,
networking, and more. And as always,
registration and attendance are FREE
to all! Visit
www.ilexpo.com
to see who’s
exhibiting, get more information, and
register as an exhibitor or an attendee.
This will be a must-attend event for all
condo, co-op, and HOA board members,
property managers, residents, and real
estate professionals in the Chicago area!
We look forward to seeing you there in
person!
CAI-Illinois Sets Sail
The Illinois chapter of the Commu-
nity Associations Institute (CAI-IL) an-
nounces its ‘Spirit of Chicago’ summer
cruise. The ship launches from Navy
Pier on Wednesday, September 22, 2021.
CAI-IL has reserved the entire boat,
according to the group’s website, for at-
tendees to “enjoy a delicious buffet lunch
during a 3-hour cruise along the magnif-
icent lakefront and city skyline.” There
will be networking opportunities prior
to the cruise as well.
The registration period is from 11:00
a.m. to 12:00 p.m., when boarding be-
gins. The Spirit of Chicago will set sail at
12:30 p.m. sharp, per the organization’s
website. Both at the pier and onboard
the ship, there will be “plenty of time to
interact with Co-workers, Business Part-
ners, Managers, and Community Volun-
teers,” says the site.
Sponsorship
opportunities
range
from $300 to $400. Visit www.cai-illi-
nois.org/events/summer-social-2021 for
more information.
Property Management
Habitat Awarded Management of Carl
Sandburg Village
MultifamilyBiz
reports that The
Habitat Company, a national develop-
ment and property management firm,
has been retained as the property man-
ager for Chicago’s Carl Sandburg Vil-
lage Condominium Association No. 1.
Starting May 1, The Habitat Company is
managing the condo’s 567 units in two
27-story towers in the city’s Gold Coast
neighborhood.
Carl Sandburg Village is a complex of
high- and low-rise condominium build-
ings, town houses, landscaped pedes-
trian malls, and commercial sites on 16
acres that features residential amenities
including two swimming pools, tennis
courts, and an expansive outdoor prom-
enade with a children’s play area, accord-
ing to the outlet and the Carl Sandburg
Village Homeowners Association web-
site. Residences within Carl Sandburg
Village Condominium Association No.
1—also known as Cummings and Dick-
inson—range in size from studio layouts
to combined five-bedroom units.
“We know one size does not fit all in
property management, and we are al-
ways eager to meet the unique needs of
each association and resident we have
the privilege to serve,” says David Barn-
hart, vice president of condominium
management at Habitat. “We look for-
ward to working with Carl Sandburg
Village Condominium Association No. 1
and using our team’s collective talents to
support the association’s continued suc-
cess.”
According to
MultifamilyBiz,
the ad-
dition of Carl Sandburg Village brings
Habitat’s condominium portfolio to 15
associations and 5,638 units in Chicago
and Southeast Michigan. In 2021 alone,
The Habitat Company has acquired more
than 1,500 condominium units under its
management, including Carl Sandburg
Village Association No. 1 as well as Chi-
cago’s 899 South Plymouth Court and
South Commons Phase 1 Condominium
Association.
“On the heels of a challenging and un-
certain year, we have been able to contin-
ue the expansion of our condominium
management division, which doubled in
size in 2020,” says Matt Fiascone, presi-
dent of The Habitat Company. “We are
incredibly proud of the division’s rapid
growth under David Barnhart’s lead-
ership and are equally pleased that we
have retained 97% of our valued condo-
minium clients over the past 10 years,”
Fiascone adds. “These statistics are a tes-
tament to the Habitat property manage-
ment model and our unparalleled com-
mitment to the residents we serve.”
Development
City Council Approves Western Avenue
Condo
Gibbons Construction has been given
the green light to build a 38-unit condo
on a vacant lot at 1317-1335 N. Western
Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neigh-
borhood. At the end of May, the City
Council unanimously approved a zon-
ing change that allows the developer to
increase the units in the proposed four-
story development from 20 to 38, ac-
cording to
Block Club Chicago.
The proj-
ect also will include two ground-floor
commercial units, two loading docks,
and 32 parking spots.
The project and the zoning change
have the support of Ald. Daniel La Spata
(1st), who said that the city’s Affordable
Requirements Ordinance ensures that 6
of the 38 units will be marketed at af-
fordable prices that will stay the same
for 30 years.
Also in support of the zoning change
were neighborhood leaders with the
Wicker Park Committee and the East
Humboldt Park Neighborhood Associa-
tion, which both voted in December to
approve it.
Some neighbors are opposed to the
project, however.
Block Club
reports that
a group that lives on the 1300 block of
North Claremont Avenue, which is di-
rectly behind the proposed site, is con-
cerned that the increased units would
affect traffic on their street and in their
alley that they would share with the new
building.
As designed, reports
Block Club,
the
building will not have any entrance or
exit lanes along Western Avenue. All
traffic, including access to the 32 park-
ing spots, will be via the shared alley.
With the Jose De Diego Community
Academy on the same street, neighbors
already see traffic issues during school
drop-off and pick-up hours, per the re-
porting. Additionally, commuters regu-
larly use the alley as a cut-through, and
it is not uncommon, say the neighbors,
for delivery and moving trucks to block
the alley for extended time periods. “Any
time you try to pull out of the garage,
someone’s there,” says neighbor Anthony
Grau.
In response to the concerned neigh-
bors’ suggestion that the developer
redesign the building to use existing
curb-cuts on Western Avenue, La Spata
countered that such a plan would en-
danger pedestrians, cyclists, and driv-
ers on Western Avenue, which has a Bus
Rapid Transit route. He added that load-
ing docks, parking spots, and an area for
garbage and recycling cans would not be
situated in the alley. Plus, accessing one’s
home via an alley is “standard practice,”
contends La Spata. “It feels unfair to say,
‘You all are the only ones who cannot ac-
cess your parking’” through the alley, he
tells
Block Club.
The outlet notes that the neighbors
who oppose the project did not speak
at the city’s Committee on Zoning when
it held its vote to approve the zoning
change a day ahead of the City Council’s
final approval of the project.
Another Residential Development
Proposed for West Loop
Block Club Chicago
also reports on a
proposed new development for the pre-
viously off-limits part of the West Loop
that has seen a number of housing pro-
posals recently.
Jeff Shapack, known for prolific de-
velopment in the area, has filed zon-
ing paperwork with the city to build a
26-story, 270-foot-tall residential high-
rise at 1353 W. Fulton Market St., ac-
cording to the outlet. The tower would
have 316 units, 16,300 square feet of re-
tail space, and 200 parking spaces on the
corner of Ada and Fulton Streets.
The proposed building is designed by
world-renowned architecture firm Skid-
more, Owings & Merrill (think “Wil-
lis Tower”) and would be made of glass
and aluminum with metal trim. Amenity
decks would be built on the fifth, 19th,
and 26th floors.
The application doesn’t specify
whether the building is an apartment or
condo building, notes
Block Club
, indi-
cating that neither a zoning attorney nor
the developer returned requests for com-
ment.
If it is to be an apartment building,
20% of the units would need to be ear-
marked as affordable to comply with
the city’s Affordable Requirement Ordi-
nance.
According to
Block Club,
this propos-
al is the latest in a slew of residential de-
velopments being proposed for the Ful-
ton Market area, which had been banned
from such development for years. The
City Council also recently approved two
plans that will bring more than 1,000
apartment units to the neighborhood.
Nearby, Sterling Bay recently unveiled
a 25-story tower with 350 apartment
units at 1245 W. Fulton Market Street.
That proposal will need support from
Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) and West
Loop Community groups before being
considered by the city’s plan commis-
PULSE
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