Tribune reports on Antheus in Hyde Park

posted by chicago pop

A decent little piece in the Tribune's business section today more or less covers the range of local opinions (including ours) on the Antheus-financed MAC-vasion of Hyde Park Kenwood. George Rumsey gets in a tart little zing, someone complains that Hyde Park risks losing its 'small town' feel, and someone else worries about the neighborhood no longer being a bastion of low-income housing. I had a number of more positive things to say in addition to the comment quoted, but they didn't make it into this short piece. Which is a sort of too bad, because - probably unintentionally - the piece comes off as Antheus/MAC vs. Everybody. 

A choice excerpt: 

This month, a small group of residents gathered at the Hyde Park Art Center to see Gang's designs.

While several praised the scale and beauty of Gang's work, some residents said they were worried that the project might alter Hyde Park's quirky, small-town feel. And others were concerned about Antheus' plans to ask the city for $10 million in financial assistance — money the company initially said it wouldn't seek. Funding would come from the 53rd Street tax increment financing (TIF) district.

"You are using TIF money for huge projects that are forcing independent business owners who have been in Hyde Park for generations in some cases to close," said resident S. Beth Thomas. "You want to make Hyde Park look like a world-class neighborhood, but my concern is the people who are being displaced," she said.

And Rumsey's little splash of NIMBY hot sauce on Eli Ungar's business lunch:

"MAC has a history of making really dumb decisions when they acquire new properties and having to back down when it's a public relations disaster," said George Rumsey, an affordable housing advocate and former president of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference.
Ungar, 44, often plays "good cop" and flies in to rescue MAC, using his affable personality to calm residents' ire. "He knows how to feel your pain," Rumsey said. "He'll say, 'Let me look at it' and calls and takes people to lunch."

Meanwhile, the Del Prado and East Park building look better and better every day, the Shoreland is kept from demolition, and the sidewalks down each side of Hyde Park Boulevard are shoveled within hours of every snow storm - not something a good number of local property managers were managing to accomplish prior to Antheus's MAC-vasion.

Psst! You can talk about Village Center now!

posted by Peter Rossi

For several years, there have been rumors that Antheus Capital (owners of the Village Shopping center at Lake Park Avenue and Hyde Park Boulevard) was interested in replacing the run-down shopping center with a combination residential and commerical development.

At the 53rd Street TIF meeting held Monday (7/14), developer Eli Ungar was allowed to let the cat of the bag. The proposal is nothing less than stunning and represents the most ambitious project attempted in Hyde Park in more than 30 years. Ungar and associates propose a development of more than 500,000 sq ft with 170 residences, dozens of retail spaces and more than 500 parking spaces.

The development would cover the entire parcel, bordered along Lake Park Ave by a 10 story structure with retail on the bottom floors and 2-4 bedroom condos above. At the northwest corner of the property at Harper and Hyde Park Blvd sits a 24 story residential tower. Along Harper, south of the tower, would be small scale retail spaces. Between the tower at the west and the "bench" along Lake Park would be a transparent retail bank on Hyde Park Blvd that hides an interior parking structure.

Elevation from Kenwood Academy Grounds

Along Lake Park Ave at Night

Designed by Studio Gang (creators of Aqua in the Lakeshore East development and designers of the yet to be constructed Solstice on the Park in HP), the development features a very transparent look that goes out of its way to relate to the streetscape and hide parking from view. The transparency is designed to reduce the mass of the development which is considerable.

At 244 ft, the tower is sure to get local NIMBYs stirred up but fits rather nicely with the 51st and East Hyde Park area.

View from atop Blackwood Apts at 52nd and Blackstone

Given the massive capital requirements, the development is to be attempted in two phases. Phase I will construct the "bench" along Lake Park and the interior parking and retail space, leaving most of the existing buildings along Harper occupied by current tenants. Phase II would add the tower and new retail spaces immediately to the south.

Cross-Section Viewed from South

The development faces a number of steep challenges including: leasing the retail space and generating residential interest, some current tenants who are holding long term leases, garnering Alderman Toni Preckwinkle's support, and dealing with the usual nay-sayers who oppose change in our community.

It should be noted that this is the ONLY development of any size that is on the drawing board for our neighborhood. Harper Court redevelopment is nowhere in sight and the University-funded Harper Theatre development is dead in the water. Add this to the stalled high rise at 53rd and Cornell, no clear future for the Shoreland, and vacant Doctor's Hospital and McMobil properties and you really have a ghost town in the making.

Millions in University and public funds have gone down the rat-hole of improving HP retail and yet the only development in Hyde Park comes entirely from the private sector. I hope our elected officials understand where the future of our neighborhood lies and offer to help speed this through the necessary zoning changes required for a more than eight-story structure.

The development will proceed with no TIF funding. The 53rd street corridor is fast degenerating into a mass of cell phone stores, vacant storefronts, dollar stores and branch banks. One wonders where our TIF dollars have gone?

There will be those who scoff at the sheer audacity of this proposal in the midst of paralysis in the mortgage markets. Ungar is betting on the future of HP. Who knows, with a windfall from the Olympics, he may end up having the last laugh.

Make no little plans!

Ungar's Village Center Back in Play: 53rd St. TIF Meeting Monday, July 14

A lot of rumors have floated around about the fate of the forlorn Village Center at 51st and Lake Park; some of you may remember Peter Rossi's ruminations on the topic from last February.

Well, now Ungar is back with new and improved plans, to be unveiled at the 53rd Street TIF meeting, together with all sorts of other juicy development-related stuff. Stop by and get the download.

The next meeting of the 53rd Street TIF Council is scheduled for:

Monday, July 14, 2008
7PM
Hyde Park Neighborhood Club
5408 S. Kenwood Avenue

The agenda will include the following items:

• 53rd & Harper Update -- University of Chicago
• Harper Court RFP Update
• Report from the University of Chicago Student Retail Task Force
• Proposal for Redevelopment of Village Center -- Elli Ungar, Antheus Capital
• Other stuff

Check it out.

Village Center: Poised for Development?

posted by Peter Rossi

At the corner of 51st and Lake Park Avenue, Village Center stands as one of Hyde Park's numerous monuments to poor design.

Village Center

Home to a rag-tag collection of buildings and dominated by a dirty parking lot, Village Center's only redeeming feature is the Original Pancake House. OPH exists almost to spite the other anemic tenants.

It obvious that this location is perfect for a mixed-use development. For example, a development that extends over the entire property (including the parking lot) with lower floors of retail, upper floors of apartments, and interior parking would make a great deal of sense.

The Village Center properties have been owned by Antheus Capital for more than two years. It is no secret that Antheus Capital would like develop this plot. Exact details on what might be proposed are difficult to come by (the Herald, in one of its brief moments as a real newspaper, printed a design prototype last year).

MAC Properties Sign

The wheels of development grind exceedingly slowly here in Hyde Park. Other developments such as the McMobil and Cornell and 53rd sites are dead in the water. The developer for these properties is clearly not up to the task.

This means that Village Center is the only real option for development in Hyde Park (note that Harper Court is many years in the making and probably will be hampered by law suits and community interference).

The economy in general, and the commercial real estate sector in particular, shows signs of slowing down if not a true recession. I worry that all of the fumbling of the ball on Village Center will mean that, by the time something is ready to be built, no funding will be available.

In the meantime, Village Center remains a depressing sight and an embarrassment as one of the "gateways" to Hyde Park-Kenwood.

Eye Candy at Village Center