Hyde Park Retail & Restaurants Development Overview

I thought I'd do an overview of the current state of commercial development here in Hyde Park.  My argument still is that Hyde Park is actually in pretty good shape, but that the neighborhoods around us lack commercial amenities.  This has been somewhat quantified by the walkability scores posted here, where Hyde Park is listed in tenth place among Chicago neighborhoods, just beating out Logan Square and Lincoln Square.  The lack of places to walk to in surrounding neighborhoods makes Hyde Park seem deader than it really is. 

Weekend and evening rail transit would stimulate shopping in Hyde Park and make HP feel closer to attractions on the north and west sides, so I've been promoting the Gold Line proposal for years.  Hyde Park certainly has room for improving its retail & restaurant offerings, but the Chicago Park District and the University of Chicago own large swathes of Hyde Park and both are under-motivated IMO to put commercial buildings on their land.  If I had my way, I'd gradually re-commercialize 55th Street,which is well-served by transit and which was, along with Lake Park Avenue, a commercial center of Hyde Park before urban renewal.  Almost all existing commercial space is leased in Hyde Park; my answer to any deficiencies is to just build more retail units and let the free market run its course.

My neighbors have been made scapegoats for all manner of perceived ills, but a look at sites awaiting development refutes such aspersions:

53rd @ Cornell: vacant lot (pic-right).  Will have retail on the first floor and condos above.  Awaiting the developer (Leal) to finish the project.  No notable opposition and Ald. Preckwinkle supports the project.

McMobil site on 53rd: Mobil filling station and car wash plus empty lot.  Also waiting on Leal to finish the project.  Some neighborhood opposition, but Ald. Preckwinkle supports he project.  

Village Shopping Center: 20% vacant*.  Village Foods has a valid lease and is holding out.  An Antheus/Silliman/Mac project.  Rumored that the alderman delayed the project, but the rest of the neighborhood as been very supportive.  Will include about 3 floors of commercial space and several floors of condos.  The economy is delaying the project.

Harper Court: half-vacant.  University of Chicago and the City of Chicago are looking over design alternatives with about four development teams in the running.  Much uproar within the community about how the non-profit former owners of the property handled the sale, but the community and Ald. Preckwinkle are solidly behind tearing down the old buildings and constructing something quite large-scale.  So far, the project is proceeding on schedule.

Harper Theatre and attached buildings: vacant (pic-right).  Owned by the University, which initially decided to go forward with a plan that saved much of the existing buildings.  The University changed its mind for some rather vague reasons, but will probably include the Theatre in the Harper Court design.  I'd expect significant opposition if the University decides to tear down these buildings and so far the University is solely to blame for delaying re-occupancy.  (And, before the University bought the parcel, the plan was for a Brown Elephant thrift store to go into the theatre portion.)

Del Prado: retail is occupied, apartments are vacant.  Antheus/Silliman/Mac is rehabbing the property.  Work is going forward and will result in more commercial space in underserved East Hyde Park.  No known delays.  The community and Ald. Hairston have been very supportive of the project.

Solstice: Antheus/Silliman/Mac will be constructing a 20+ story condo building on what's long been a parking lot.  I believe the final plan will have a little commercial activity on the first floor, maybe a gym and some offices.  The community and Ald. Hairston have been especially supportive of this project.  Economy is delaying it.

Doctors Hospital: vacant (pic-right).  University owns this and wanted the property to be developed by a hotelier who's also a major donor.  A combination of neighbors (primarily concerned about parking), preservationists and organized labor thwarted the project.  I'm in the pro-union camp and would have supported the hotels had the trustee been willing to sign a neutrality agreement with the union UNITE-HERE, even though I found the University's economic argument weird: basically, Hyde Park can't support a hotel unless we build two large ones and only this site will do.  Had the University satisfied any of the three groups (preservationists, neighbors or labor), this would have gone through.  It would have been a tough sell in most Chicago neighborhoods-- two new large commercial properties on a street that's mostly residential.  I actually believe this project got further in Hyde Park than it would have in much of Chicago that would have been attractive to a hotelier.

Co-op/Treasure Island: operating.  The former dilapidated cooperative grocery store has been transformed into a fancier Treasure Island.  Large minority of the community, including me, tried to stop this change, but a vote of Co-op members went against us.  Note that this democratic outcome is not possible with Village Foods today or Treasure Island in the future.  I would have preferred that the University retreat from meddling with retail in HP and/or use the capital spent on buying the Co-op's lease to build a second large grocery store, preferably at 55th & Cottage Grove. 

So that's it.  There's been some yelling and griping about Treasure Island, the McMobil site and Doctors Hospital, but only DH was stopped.  The other two weren't even delayed.  Harper Theatre is likely to garner opposition only if significant portions of the current building are hauled to a landfill.  I expect there to be controversy surrounding Harper Court, but anything that respects the Harper Theatre building is likely to go full speed ahead (albeit with some griping). 

All of the empty spaces, except Doctors Hospital, are waiting on the developers to either be chosen or to go ahead with their plans.  Practically all the rest of HP's commercial buildings are either in operations or transitioning to new business.  The most significant vacancies might be in the basement of Treasure Island.

*Corrected. 

Comments

[John]

"vacant (pic-right). University owns this and wanted the property to be developed by a hotelier who's also a major donor. "

The implication is that there is something nefarious in a "major donor" developing the property as a hotel. What you fail to mention is that the "major donor" knew that the hotel was not economically viable and was willing to develop the hotel knowing that it would result in a net loss year after year. He was willing to do this for the benefit of the university and the community.

[withrow]

I "know" the hotelier claimed that this location would not be economically viable, not that he or I "knew" that it would lose money. IOW, I can't vouch for what's going on inside the hotelier's head and I don't remember him sharing internal documents to back up his claim.

I'm not saying he's lying or anything, just that it's weird he wanted to build two large hotels which would not be economically viable, instead of, say, one small hotel that might lose less money. It's a claim that made me raise an eyebrow.

In any case, the only reason I opposed the project and supported making that precinct dry was the labor issue. If he'd solved that, I would have supported the project and happily let him lose all the money he wanted to. I think I've been consistent on this. (See warning for Antheus, whom I'm very supportive of otherwise, regarding the recent picketing at the Del Prado.) I'm for urbanism, but not at the expense of all my other values.

I'm not trying to reargue the whole Doctors Hospital issue. It appears here as the one example where the neighborhood delayed a development. And even with DH, the University has a host of other options for both the site and a hotel.

There may be some way to re-phrase the "major donor" thing. If he weren't a major donor, his claims about the economically viability of the project would have been laughable. In that case, he would have appeared to be someone who suddenly wanted to help the University. Calling him a major donor suggests he has a long history of giving to the UofC.

And his being a major donor made it look like the Univ would have had problems turning down his "altruism". At the very least, I think the Univ would have handled the situation differently had the prior relationship not existed-- for instance, putting the project thru its normal development process with RFQ and RFP.

My paycheck partially depends on major donors to the Univ, so it's a label that makes me think better of someone. I'm willing to consider other language, however.

[Shane]

Just wondering if you saw that Michael's Fresh Markets is moving into the old 47th street co-op location? It is in the breaking news section of the Herald.

[correction, it has been moved to the front page of the new issue http://www.hpherald.com/hpindex.html]

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=2908086]

Not our amazing car wash! That's one of the best hand-dry car washes in the city...

[withrow]

Don't worry, Avi. At Leal's pace, you should be able to enjoy those hand-dries well into your golden years.