451 East Grand Avenue 

Alderman Reilly is pleased to have once again partnered with SOAR in the review of an upcoming development in the Streeterville community. Over the past year, the development team was required to make a ward-wide presentation in addition to numerous smaller presentations at condo buildings surrounding the subject site.  The product of these many meetings with residents and city departments is a less dense, more compatible structure with a 1.5 acre publicly accessible park.    

The 451 E. Grand parcel is already part of Planned Development No. 368 which spans a large portion of eastern Streeterville.  Being within a large planned development boundary, the land was already assigned bulk, density and height development rights.  It was Alderman Reilly's job to review the existing development rights against the current proposal and determine the best possible solution for the neighborhood.

The chart below offers a comparison of the project proposal v. the negotiated plan to be presented to the Plan Commission:

From the traffic standpoint, there were also numerous improvements incorporated into the plan.  The Alderman required that the developer comply with CDOT recommendations related to the location of condo and apartment entrances to forging a better ingress/egress solution for Peshtigo/Grand traffic and pedestrians. Acknowledging that Streeterville has some of the worst congestion in the city, this reconfiguration was key alongside the reduction of curb cuts out of respect for the thousands of pedestrians on surrounding streets.  The developer will also repave streets and reconstruct sidewalks along the perimeter of the site.

The new park space, not an existing developer obligation, was folded into this approval by Alderman Reilly based upon the condition of the site and countless complaints by residents.  By including this land into the developer obligation, residents will soon have a modern park with the appropriate mix of sodded areas, trees, playground equipment and a dog-friendly area.  A park of this quality would not be possible with city funding, so the Alderman enlisted the developer to not only reconstruct the existing land but maintain the entirety of the park in perpetuity.

Alderman Reilly would like to express his gratitude to SOAR membership and the residents of both 530 N. Lake Shore Drive and Parkview for their participation in the many months of rigorous community process.  This routine collaboration of public review and comments with developer engagement has afforded downtown Chicago dozens of projects that not only beautify our landscape but provide substantial public benefit to 42nd ward residents.

Click on the following links to view the application and CPC presentation.