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Please Attend Tuesday March 3 P&D Meeting

Please help Evanston residents kill the 708 Church Tower proposal.

The developers of 708 Church (Klutznick/Anderson) are at it again. This time, they are proposing a 35 story condo tower at 708 Church in the Fountain Square block.

While they have taken 3 stories off their last proposal, it is still the WRONG development for the site and will do more harm than good for Evanston taxpayers. We do not understand why Alderman Moran (along with Wollin, Jean-Baptiste and Rainey) are in such a rush to approve this project. WHY THE RUSH?

While 385 feet (110 feet taller than the tallest building downtown) is the MAXIMUM suggested by the Downtown Plan, there are supposed to be MANY public benefits to reach that maximum. Just to clarify things, THERE IS NO ZONING ASSOCIATED WITH THE NEW DOWNTOWN PLAN. Because of this, the developers must seek allowances based on current zoning (42 feet plus an additional four floors for parking OR 85 feet plus four floors of parking if they succeed in their bid for D3 zoning).

Why is the proposal bad for Evanston?

  • If passed, the property will likely sit vacant for several years until the economy turns around and the developers can secure financing. During this time, it is likely that no one will want to lease office space in the existing building or surrounding storefronts as they would have to move out within a few years. This is disastrous for the tax base. It is our prediction that if passed, the developers would immediately try to move the remaining businesses out of 708 so they could tear it down and pay less in taxes.
  • The tax revenue predicted by the developers is questionable. They are predicting 100 percent occupancy by 2015 which would mean any revenue would not come to the city until at least 2016. Even IF they met this aggressive schedule, the City would not be able to use the revenue generated for general operating expenses until 2019 when the TIF has expired. There are projections on realistic tax revenue on this website. It should be noted that tax generation does not qualify in itself as a public benefit for determining zoning allowances.
  • There is NO office space included in the proposal. Instead, Evanston gets LESS retail space than currently exists and 218 luxury condominiums in a over-saturated market. (There are currently at least 3 approved condominium projects in Evanston that have asked for extensions prior to construction due to a lack of pre-sales -- in each case, the property is sitting vacant giving Evanston little tax revenue).
  • The developer is stating that a contribution to affordable housing is a public benefit. Since this is mandated by ordinance, this does not qualify.
  • The developer has abandoned plans to restore the Hahn building, instead offering funds of $1 million to help with renovation of Fountain Square. To give you an idea of how far this money would go, remember that the City spent about half a million dollars to restore the fountains in 2008.
  • The developer has promised to try for Silver LEED certification. This is only one level above Basic and is only a promise. The developer has stated that this would probably be the first Silver certified building in Evanston. However, it should be noted that Winthrop Club is working towards GOLD certification and at least one other project in Evanston is seeking Platinum. The Plan Commission itself recommended having a very small bonus for Silver LEED since it believed that Silver should be more of a requirement and that buildings should strive for Gold or Platinum.
  • Certain bloggers have said that this would create jobs and stimulate the economy. The problem with this theory is that any jobs created would be years down the road (remember how long Sherman Plaza sat as a vacant lot?). In the short term, it would DECREASE jobs as existing stores and businesses would either go out of business or relocate out of Evanston. At least one online blog has attempted to portray this proposal as having wide public support. Citizen sentiment in the real world would most likely strongly disagree with this position (we wonder why only "anonymous" posters are in a position of supporting the new proposal).

    • For these reasons, and many others, we feel that this is the WRONG project for Evanston and the WRONG project for this site. We would encourage the Council to REJECT the proposal.

    We are asking you, and all of your friends, to ATTEND the meeting on Tuesday evening. There will be an opportunity to speak if you are so inclined. However, your PRESENCE will speak volumes to the Aldermen as they will once again be reminded of the citizen opposition to this project.