Hyde Park Urbanist

TIF Meeting: Harper Court Update

At the November TIF meeting Monday night, very little was added to what George Rumsey wrote up from the September TIF meeting.  Drawings of the footprints of the three current proposals were presented, but most questions were punted for one reason or another.

None of the plans include the Harper Theatre buildings, but they do include what used to be Hollywood Video, Harper Court and the city-owned parking lot.  The footprint drawings were presented anonymously; none was specifically attributed to the development team proposing it.  All three include the components listed at the link above: offices, a hotel, retail space and eventually some residential.  On-site parking will be hidden from view.  All three plans envision re-opening Harper Avenue.  We were not given copies of the drawings to take home and I'll let you know if I hear they're posted on the web (but don't hold your breath).

IIRC all three plans foresee an east-west street or passageway about where 52nd Street would otherwise lie.  At least one plan actually refers to a 52nd Place.  A decent-sized outdoor public space that's oriented east-west coming off Lake Park is part of one plan.  But all three looked very pedestrian-friendly.  And I forgot to ask about bike parking.

I asked two questions.  The estimated square footage for retail space is 90,000 to 150,000 square feet, but the city's spokesperson refused to provide a range of the number of retail units.  Are the developers contemplating 3 big box retailers or more boutique-size spaces?  Those choices will make a big difference to the future of commercial activity in Hyde Park.

Nor would the spokesperson tell us what developers were likely to want to use TIF funds for.  "Infrastructure," he said.  But what kind of infrastructure?  Improving Harper Avenue?  Sure, that makes sense.  The parking garage?  Grrrr.  Alderman Preckwinkle assured the crowd that the parking will not be free in the new structure, so who gets the money if the TIF pays for the garage?  Landscaping the public space?  Well, that makes sense, too.  But the city spokesperson wouldn't elaborate beyond the word "infrastructure".

University Gives Harper Court Update

I don't think I could improve on George Rumsey's summary of the presentation at Monday night's TIF meeting, so here's what he had to say about the plans of the University and City to develop Harper Court:

 Common elements in the (3) remaining proposals are:
·Opposite the HP bank (53rd St. corner/Hollywood Video space), there will be a building similar in size and scale to the bank.
·As the development moves north, buildings along Lake Park could reach the maximum size of 25 stories.
·The overall development will consist of a mix of retail (stores, entertainment, restaurants) that would cover 90,000 to 150,000 square feet. Possible tenants being considered include fitness clubs, movie theater, restaurants, live entertainment venues.
·There will be office space of 150,000 square feet, which will be rented by the University of Chicago...
·Plans include a boutique hotel of 150+ rooms (this is in addition to the estimation of retail footage above).
·A later phase calls for 200 units of condos.
·Parking will be on-site, but screened or hidden behind buildings. There will be more parking than in the current lot, although there is debate about how much to include.
·The new design calls for a gathering space (open space and/or green streetscaping).
·Overall buildings range in height from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 25 floors.
 
The University announced they were “slowing down” efforts to develop the theater and adjoining buildings until the Harper Court plans were finalized, so they could “complement” the design.

I think Treasure Island is around 50,00 square feet, so it sounds like there will be more retail space in the new Harper Court than in the old.  But I doubt that it will be a huge increase.  The boutique hotel sounds good.  Ditto the condos.

I really like the size they're talking about.  Sounds massive.  I'd hate for the Hyde Park Bank Building and the new development to create a wind tunnel along 53rd Street, but otherwise I'm very happy about the mass they're discussing.

George Rumsey reminded Ald. Preckwinkle that she'd promised we could see the final three designs and she acknowledged his reminder. FWIW.

Another HPKCC board member noted that Susan Campbell alluded to the University's 53rd Street blog as a place where the community could get information.  Anne Marie Lipinski mentioned that blog when she tried to rebut the Herald's complaints about the lack of University communication regarding the abrupt demolition of Harper Court.  I'll just note that as of right now, the 53rd Street blog has not been updated for 30 days and the word demolition does not appear on it.  It's just human nature for the Herald and community members to filter presentations thru our own prisms.  Seems like it would serve the University well to get their side of the story out first, the way they want to present it. 

Several of us get the feeling that the University will say only as much as Ald. Preckwinkle can force them to say.

Shoreland Development

At the September meeting of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, board member Peter Cassel answered some of our questions concerning his employer's upcoming development of the Shoreland.  Antheus/Silliman/Mac will be converting the building from student dorms to apartments.

Originally a thousand-room hotel, the building contains about 450K square feet.  Cassel anticipates reorganizing this into 350 apartments, mostly one- and two bedroom, high-end.  (Three- and four-bedroom rental units in Hyde Park tend to attract less stable collections of adults.)  There would be no changes to the "envelope" of the building and tax credits for historic preservation will help with the conversion.

(Pic-right shows the back of the Shoreland and indicates how huge a building it is.)

Cassel stated "we'll create as much parking as we can."  But unlike the previous owner's development plan, the ballroom would become a restaurant instead of a garage.  The hope is that parking stackers (and I'm hoping to do an article on those soon) will maximize spaces.  Expect a community meeting in late September.

(Also note that I somehow missed the Shoreland in my commercial development round-up on Wednesday and have corrected the Village Center vacancy rate to Cassel's estimation of 20% vacant.)

Michael's Fresh Markets to Move into 47th St. Co-op Space

In the comments to my previous article, Shane alerted me to the Herald's good news that a grocer will be moving into the long-vacant space on 47th Street built by the Co-op.  I know zip about Michael's Fresh Markets, but any grocer will be a plus for the neighbors.

I'll be so happy to see the Co-op sign come down from that building.  It was a constant reminder of failure.

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. 

Hyde Park Produce

I have a guest in town from Austin and she sticks to a vegan diet of raw fruits & vegetables as much as possible.  She also avoids added salt in any processed foods.  Austin's a great city for grocery stores, while Chicago disappoints me, and I was worried we might have to search & search-- or, horror of horrors, drive-- in order to satisfy her dietary wishes.  But Hyde Park Produce had everything she wanted.  As she put it, HPProduce had everything she wanted and not much else.

The place doesn't do much for me.  I'm more thrilled by quirky processed foods, especially ethnic stuff.  But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it.  I tend to judge by a place by its PLUM score, the number of people enjoying the space, averaged across time.  HPProduce was busy on a Sunday afternoon in July and that's good enough for me.  It means something to plenty of Hyde Parkers and satisfied my friend from outside the neighborhood.

Beating a Dead Horse

It's been a little tough to find things to write about lately.  Oh, I could be linking to CTA Tattler to tell you that the #55 buses will be more express and less local or to ChiTown Daily News for a report that the Circle Line got congressional funding for some planning.  But Matthew Yglesias has been concentrating on the financial catastrophe instead of urbanism.  Nothing's really pissing me off these days.  Besides closing down my dental clinic, I can't think of anything to gripe about the University, either.  Luckily, Hyde Park Progress rides to the rescue.

Today, HPP decided to break the news that the defunct Co-op grocery story had serious problems before its members voted to close it.  Shocking, eh?  As a board member, I can assure you that the negative reviews they found on Yelp represent a tiny fraction of the very legitimate customer complaints I read & heard.  (Not that there weren't some excellent employees making do with their outdated equipment.)

And the renovations at Treasure Island have produced a contemporary-looking retail operation.  The shelves are stocked and the store is clean.  Management has been very supportive of the community and I can personally attest that they were extremely helpful with last year's Hyde Park Book Sale.

However, it's a little silly to compare the Co-op's worst ten years with Treasure Island's first two years.  Sure, TI has spent money on capital improvements that the Co-op would not have been able to afford in the foreseeable future.  But what do you think TI will look like after 20 years? 

Will they even be there?  Will the family that owns it someday decide to sell to a larger chain?  I once worked at a grocery store in the very successful HEB chain in Texas that closed not because it failed to make money or make customers happy, but because the size of the store didn't fit the image they wanted to project-- a situation very similar to the dental clinic I mentioned above.  Because it was a cooperative, the Co-op was immune to some of these scenarios, a reason it was able to survive for 75 years as a going concern, which was fairly remarkable.

Yelper Andrew C gets to the heart of the matter:

The co-op only survives because it has a monopoly on groceries in a neighborhood with high population density and low car ownership. I feel like a chump whenever I shop there, but until Hyde Park Produce opens at 53rd and Kimbark, I have no other choice.

Yeah, the Co-op's decision in the late nineties to buy the former Mr. G's AND build a new store on 47th Street monopolized the grocery sector in Hyde Park.  When losses at 47th Street impinged on the very profitable operations at 55th Street, quality went downhill fast.  And even if the Co-op's three stores had been great, people still would have been dissatisfied because we like to have choices.  The Co-op's efforts to monopolize were unforgivable.

On the other hand, having the University pick retail for the neighborhood is only one step removed from that sort of monopolization.  Hyde Park Produce and Treasure Island are too similar for my tastes and my observation is that there's a segment of customers which shopped at the Co-op but go to neither of those stores.  The customer base for TI has definitely improved over the first few months when it was obvious their sales were less than the Co-op's had been.  But even after the renovations, I'd guess their sales figures are still within 10% of the Co-op's one way or the other.  The replacement of the Co-op with TI has barely changed Hyde Park's retail trade deficit (the retail dollars we spend elsewhere versus the dollars spent here by others).  Maybe fewer HPers are heading to Roosevelt Road, but, if so, I believe that's balanced out by those who've quit shopping in our neighborhood.

My advice is the same now as it was during the Co-op election.  The University should build another grocery store in Hyde Park because no one else controls so much land.  Until the University does that, it'll just be a more upscale version of the monopolization problem we had before.

Trader Joe's Rumor

I'm lifting this David Farley comment off a Hyde Park Progress post because I know he reads this blog occasionally, because I was banned from HPP and because I'm well-situated to comment on it:

Here's my Trader Joe's story. Take it for what it's worth.

I have a friend I used to run with sometimes who went to the U of C and used to live in Chicago. Out of the blue one day he asked me what the University's problem was with Trader Joe's. I had heard something about this so I explained the whole "HP didn't fit Trader Joe's demographics" story. My friend said that was a complete crock and went on to explain that he knew some people at Trader Joe's who had been trying to get in touch with the University (specifically, Hank Weber) because they were very interested in the 47th St. location, but Mr. Weber refused to take their calls. So, my friend also tried to call Mr. Weber to try to get them talking. No response.

But the canonical story from everyone I've talked to in HP is that it was Trader Joe's who turned down the 47th St. location because we didn't fit their demographics. So go figure. I have never set foot in a Trader Joe's, so I don't care one way or the other.

First of all, while it's true that Hank Webber was on the board of directors (IIRC) for the 47th Street shopping center at some point, the University has never owned the lease on the former Co-op space.  If Trader Joe's called him, they were wasting their time. 

Secondly, while I was on the board of the Co-op, we had a broker looking for occupants.  It's possible that she never contacted Trader Joe's, but, if she didn't and TJ was a willing tenant, she blew her commission.  When the University bought out the Co-op's lease at 55th Street, Certified Grocers simultaneously acquired the lease to the 47th Street location.  The University is AFAIK completely uninvolved, still.

For Trader Joe's to have been purposely shut out of the 47th Street location, they would have had to call someone who never owned the lease but refused to call the people who did and who were looking for tenants.  While both Certified and the Co-op may have had some incentive to keep other grocers out, I'm unaware-- as a former Co-op board member-- of any interest on their part in that location and we were desperate to sublease it. 

I honestly believe 47th Street just hasn't fit TJ's preferred demographics so far.  Or, a better way to put it is that there a couple hundred locations around the country that better fit their preferred demographics, so why would they be hot for 47th St?  Other more central Hyde Park locations might, however, might be attractive soon.  I like TJ's a lot.

Further down the thread, there's some commentary about the Co-op stripping the 47th Street location bare.  That's basically correct, but it had nothing to do with not wanting another grocer there.  Fact is, the Co-op was struggling for its existence and we needed cash.  The likely tenant-- who's still probably the most likely tenant-- was not a grocer and they wanted a vanilla box, so it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Now, if Trader Joe's was interested in the 55th Street space, the whole thing makes a little more sense.  The University would never have acted to put a niche grocer at 55th. 

The pic above shows a Trader Joe's in Boston.  The chain is pretty flexible about taking unusual urban spaces like the store on Clybourn, which is second story except for a small elevator lobby on the street.

TIF: University Presents Harper Court Developer Finalists

At tonight's TIF Council meeting, Susan Campbell from the University told us who the five finalist developers would be for the project encompassing Harper Court, the city parking lot, maybe the former Hollywood Video site and maybe Harper Theater.  These finalists were chosen from eleven applicants who responded to the University's request for qualifications (RFQ).  The following is from the handout the University passed out and the developers are listed here in no particular order:

Mesa Development/Walsh: preliminary suggestion included 150K sq ft of office space, 200 grad student units, a 150-room hotel, 30K sq ft of retail and a 400-car garage.  Previous projects include The Heritage at Millennium Park; Park Boulevard and LaSalle Park.

Metropolitan Properties/Heitman: 2-level parking below grade, perimeter retail along Lake Park and 53rd St. and two mid-rises east and west of Harper, one potentially a 150-200 room hotel.  They developed the Hyde Park Art Center (pic-left) and The University Center of Chicago (Congress/State).

Vermilion Development: suggested an urban design of retail, multi-family housing, institutional, hotel, grad housing and "active-adult housing" totalling from 390K to 625K sq ft.  Previous projects include mixed-use complexes at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) and Western Illinois University as well as 3030 N. Broadway.

Metropolitan Properties/Heitman: 2-level parking below grade, perimeter retail along Lake Park and 53rd St. and two mid-rises east and west of Harper, one potentially a 150-200 room hotel.  They developed the Hyde Park Art Center and The University Center of Chicago (Congress/State).

McCaffery Interests/Taxman: suggested following the precedent of The Market Commons in Clarendon, VA with retail/entertainment, residential (both grad student and market rate), a botique hotel, office space and parking.  Past work includes Streets of Woodfield, The Morgan at Loyola Station, 669 N. Michigan, The Shops of Oak Park and Riverforest Town Center.

Joseph Freed and Associates: similarly suggested retail/entertainment, grad student and market rate residential, a botique hotel, office space and parking.  Experience includes Sullivan Center (the Carson Pirie Scott building), Block 37 (pic-right), Wicker Park Center and Uptown Square.

All five are local firms with national experience.  The development is almost certainly going to be done "in phases", according to Campbell.  Calypso, Park 52 and Checkerboard have leases and will stay put awhile.  Dixie Kitchen will vacate July 1.

Oh, more detailed presentations should be available in early summer (Junish?), with mid-September a possible end-date for awarding the project.

Near-Campus Zoning Problems?

Odd quote in the Maroon by University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer:

Zimmer also discussed student desire for more retail development in the neighborhood.

“We will be actively involved in getting a hotel and a better commercial environment in Hyde Park,” he said. He described plans for street-level stores in the new hospital complex to be built along East 57th Street but explained that options for increased commerce close to campus are somewhat limited.

“There are some things we can do, but there are some zoning problems. There is a feeling that there’s not enough urban dynamism, but everywhere that can have retail is full. We have to explore south of campus,” he said.

The "explore south of campus" part sounds hopeful, but I'd be interested to know what "zoning problems" he's thinking about.  My understanding is that campus is basically treated as a planned development, which, in practice, means the University has plenty of freedom on sites surrounded by other University buildings. 

I'd be very supportive of more retail in the West Campus area.  Cottage Grove from 55th to 59th strikes me as an especially hospitable strip for successful commercial activities.  It's rare that the neighborhood complains about University projects on sites surrounded by campus buildings.  (The proposed demolition of International House is the only example that immediately comes to mind in the recent past.)  More care would have to be taken north of 55th, of course, but the Office of Civic Engagement shouldn't discount the possibilities.