Where Legacy Meets Luxury

This will add 29% more affordable units to Evanston’s current inventory in market rate buildings in downtown Evanston.

The current property yields approximately $103,530 in property tax revenue. The new development will offer more than $700,000 in new revenue in the first year, mostly from fees associated with construction. The Legacy will generate over $9.5 million of new Net Revenue within the first 13 years of the project for the City of Evanston and two school districts. 

The project will be increasing the current IHO affordable housing inventory by 29% in market rate buildings in downtown Evanston. Further, we have offered to:

• Contribute toward the improvement of the alley behind the project;

• Implement a scholarship program that would help pay for the education of Evanstonians that want to enroll in construction or real estate trade classes;

• Commit to concerted efforts to first hire local Evanstonians to work on the project as it relates to construction jobs and operations jobs.

We believe the project will actually reduce traffic in the alley as compared to its current use if fully occupied because, whereas no alley management plan exists, we intend to develop and execute an alley management plan that will regulate traffic hours for the project.  Move ins/outs will be scheduled based upon slotted windows and availability of the loading berths and at times that would cause the most minimal impact on alley traffic.  Furthermore, the project proposes to replace 7 commercial stores with only 2 commercial stores.  Commercial activity is the dominant contributor to alley traffic as compared to residential use.  The building as proposed should result in less than 100 move ins/outs per year, which, when properly managed, will not result in idling alley traffic. 

Furthermore, we engaged the traffic consulting firm of KLOA to perform a traffic study that included a study of the impact of the project on the alley. The study was completed in 2021, updated in 2023, and a new study was finished this summer. It concluded, as relates to the alley specifically, that the city generally prefers access to new developments to be provided via the public alley system, and the city has repeatedly indicated they will not permit access via Chicago Avenue.  The report concluded that traffic counts have shown that the alley carries a low volume of traffic that is similar to the volume of traffic in other alleys in Evanston; and the alley has sufficient capacity to accommodate the traffic to be generated by the development.

KLOA, the traffic consultant for the project, has performed alley turn radius studies and prepared drawings showing that a single-unit truck of up to 30 ft. in length will be able to access the loading dock without conflict. The report is part of the public document package made available as part of the overall submission.

Move-ins and move-outs will be managed by staff and scheduled in slotted timeframes to ensure the availability of the loading berths. Residents will be properly informed that blocking the alley during move-ins and move-outs will be strictly prohibited and subject to fines.

We plan and expect to repave the 127 linear feet of alley that abuts the property once the project is completed.  Additionally, we have offered to participate in a shared plan whereby all property owners along the alley would contribute on a prorated basis (capped at $200,000 per contributor) toward infrastructure improvement of the alley.

There are four development allowances, with one being minor, requested for the project.

• Density or Dwelling Units (54 base units allowed versus 78 base units proposed)

• Height (135’ versus 105’ base zoning height -- however, 145’ is allowed with Site Development Allowances)

• Parking Space Count (91 spaces required versus 48 proposed)

• Parking Space Size (2 spaces 15 ft. in depth rather than the required 18 ft. for compact cars)

The property is located in the D4 zoning district, which provides for a 105’ base zoning height maximum.  However, with site allowances (that are subject to city council approval) the maximum height allowed is 145’.  Additionally, those floors that are earmarked for parking (maximum of 4 stories) do not count towards the height calculation.  So a project with a 4-story parking deck on floors 1-4 can reach a “tape measure” height of 185’ in the D4 zoning district.  Notably, the proposed project has two stories of parking and stands at 135’.

The proposed project has a "tape measure" height of 135'.  However, the highest 10' will be set back from the street to house mechanical equipment and some amenity interior spaces. So, the "street or pedestrian height" of the building is 125'.

No. The maximum FAR in the D4 zoning district is 5.4. However, because of the affordable housing provided on site, the maximum allowable FAR is increased to 7.4.  Finally, with site development allowances (that are subject to city council approval), the maximum allowable FAR is increased to 8.0.  The proposed project includes an FAR of 5.25.

While the property is situated in the D4 transition zoning area, that designation, in reality, has turned out to be more in form than in substance.  In fact, there are other properties that are situated further east than the proposed project that exceed their respective base zoning heights.  For instance, the Mather (425 Davis Street) is 143 ft. tall in the R6 zoning district that allows a maximum of 85 ft.  Additionally, the Davis Center (500 Davis Street) is 135 ft. in the D1 zoning district which allows a maximum of 42 ft.  Of course, the proposed project is taller than the base zoning height of 105 ft., but additional height is needed in order to accommodate the 8 Affordable Housing Units that will be in the building in one of Evanston’s most coveted areas. It is also noteworthy that the D4 zoning district: (i) does allow for a 185 ft. tall building under certain circumstances and (ii) has the tallest base zoning height (85 ft.) of any zoning district in Evanston.

There have been numerous iterations of the building presented to various stakeholder groups since the development was first contemplated in 2017. The vast majority were not developed beyond preliminary vetting meetings. We have submitted two formal applications for submission to a vote before the Planning Commission (May 2020) and City Council (October 2020); and the Land Use Commission (Sept. 2022).  The last proposal in June 2023, was not recommended by the Land Use Commission but no action was taken by the full City Council.  The building proposed to the City Council in 2020 was 185 ft. tall with 215 units, included a curb-cut across the secured bicycle lane on Chicago Avenue and provided no on-site affordable housing units.  The currently proposed building is materially different because we have acceded to the City’s request for ingress and egress to be from the rear alley and has agreed to provide 10% Affordable Housing Units on-site.

The project will include studios, one bedroom and two-bedroom apartments that will be rented competitively with market rents of the area. In 2027, studios will be in the range of $2,200, one bedrooms in the range of $2,750  and two bedrooms in the range of $3,800.  The Affordable Housing Units will be rented in accordance with the rates set forth by the Illinois Housing Development Authority, which is estimated in 2027 to be: $1,288, $1,377 and $1,653 for a studio, one bedroom and two bedrooms, respectively, for those at 60% of Average Median Income (AMI).

Yes. Horizon Realty Group complies with all Fair Housing Laws and will adhere to the principles expressed in the Fair Housing Act and will not participate in any act that unlawfully discriminates on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, country of national origin or any other category protected under federal, state or local law.

Ownership will consult with professionals in the area of design, architecture, waste management and City staff as the design process unfolds to devise a specific, thoughtful and bold plan addressing waste management and establishing best practices for The Legacy that surpass others in the industry.  The final plan will include: establishing a responsible party for waste management within the ownership organization; establishing concrete goals and objectives towards thoughtful and green waste management; building design features that will promote minimizing waste, composting, recycling and box balers; tenant education and fines for infractions and tenant accountability.

We have been in contact with Bird Friendly Evanston and promise to implement best practices and design initiatives, such as bird-friendly glass, in order to reduce as much as reasonably possible the impact of the building on bird casualties. 

The project will be built to exceed LEED Gold certification with fossil fuel free apartments.

A previous iteration of the project did include a porte cochere along Chicago Avenue that would allow the loading and unloading of people to occur within the property and off of Chicago Avenue.  However, that plan was rejected by the city as it would interfere with the bicycle lane.  In response, all loading and unloading activity was moved to the rear of the building at the behest of city officials.

This type of risk is inherent in any situation where a bicycle lane exists, and in fact exists in many other locations throughout Evanston where bike lanes intersect with pedestrian crossings. We do not believe the risk at this project will be any greater than anywhere else in Evanston. With more protected bicycle lanes, riders and pedestrians have become more accustomed to watching for risks and adjusting behaviors. Further, the City has been building out bicycling infrastructure throughout downtown Evanston in front of both residential and commercial buildings to encourage more bicycling.  

The project includes a 0.47 parking ratio (48 parking spaces).  This ratio is very typical for projects of this type and size in urban locations with high walkability scores, particularly with the prominence of ride-share availability and public transportation.  Should the demand arise, we will consider leasing additional parking spaces from the City in the public garage at Church and Chicago Avenue, where ample capacity exists. https://www.walkscore.com/score/1621-chicago-ave-evanston-il-60201

Discussion of shadows should remain focused on the additional shadows created by the incremental height (135’ proposed versus 135’ with Site Development Allowances or 105’ as-of-right). A shadow study relating to the project was performed. During the summer months, there is no significant shadow cast on neighboring properties, particularly the First United Method Church (which is located in a northeasterly direction from the project) until 5:00 p.m. Furthermore, a building of 135’ would still cast shadows on the Church at 5:00 pm. During the Fall and Winter months, the First United Methodist Church is in full shadow by 5:00 pm, but so are all neighboring properties as a result of existing buildings in the area.

We have proposed a base number of units totaling 78.  Per the IHO and base zoning district requirement, the project would require 8 on-site affordable units and afford the project 32 (4 bonus units x 8 affordable units) extra market rate units, taking the total number of units to 110 (78 + 32).  The fraction of 8 over 141 is less than 10%, however, compliant with IHO requirements.