In a clash of styles more than ideas, two developers presented their visions Saturday for creating a mixed-income residential development on vacant land that long has served as a buffer between the poverty of Cabrini-Green and the prosperity of Lincoln Park.
On one side is Dan McLean, a politically connected builder best known for his $1 billion plan to build a huge residential and commercial development between Michigan Avenue and Navy Pier. His Near North Side projects of townhouses along Mohawk Street and a Dominick’s grocery just north of Division Street were the source of audience wrath at a public hearing where Cabrini leaders charged that McLean reneged on a deal to give residents jobs there.
On the other side is Peter Holsten, who has spent 23 years rehabbing and operating low-income and senior housing in Chicago, first in Albany Park and later in Edgewater. He has no experience in new construction but says his strength is operating low-income housing and working with the community. He hired William Gates, the star of “Hoop Dreams” who grew up in Cabrini, to work as his community liaison on the Halsted North project.
Saturday’s public hearing was set up to give both developers a chance to convince the neighborhood that his design approach would be the best. But the Cabrini residents who packed into the Steppenwolf Theatre were more interested in whether they will get jobs created by the construction than they were in the architectural aesthetics of the proposals.
Although McLean did not attend, his team, Southwest Old Town Development Associates, became a lightning rod for complaints during the three-hour meeting.
“This man is a shoo-in by Mayor (Richard) Daley,” charged Nehemiah Russell, who said he is a black nationalist leader at Cabrini. “(McLean) said in the past he would provide adequate jobs and housing, and he has not done it. What will make him do it in the future?”
Kevin Augustyn, vice president of McLean’s firm, MCL Cos., said, “I can’t say every covenant we had was filled, (but) there was significant job creation” on McLean’s previous projects. He also noted that McLean donated land for a new library near Cabrini and is donating $600,000 to expand a neighborhood park.
Holsten-Kenard Redevelopment Team, led by the less well-known Holsten, introduced a host of minority business owners who already have signed on as subcontractors for the project, brought along several staff members and showed letters of support from 14 neighborhood organizations that he said endorse his proposal.
Chicago Housing Commissioner Julia Stasch, who heads the committee charged with choosing between the two developers, said she hopes to have a decision within 30 days so construction can start in the spring. Although there is a “high degree of emotion” surrounding the proposed development, Stasch said her committee will evaluate the proposals based on specific criteria.
The criteria include employment goals for minorities, women and Cabrini residents; requirements that units be accessible to people with disabilities; and mandates that 30 percent of the units be set aside for public housing residents plus another 20 percent earmarked as affordable.
Since both were responding to the strict city-generated guidelines, there are only minor differences between the proposals.
One key difference: McLean would reserve one entire mid-rise building for affordable rental units, which he says is needed to qualify for federal tax credits. Holsten’s proposal intersperses the affordable and public housing units throughout the development.
Bruce Abrams, president of LR Development and a partner in Southwest Old Town Development, admitted that his group’s slick computer-generated presentation didn’t win over the Steppenwolf audience.
“From a political perspective, we could have done a better job of preparing ourselves,” Abrams said after the presentation.
Southwest Old Town Development officials maintained that their development experience and financial muscle mean their team is most likely to succeed.
Holsten pointed to his record as a developer and operator of low-income housing as proof that he can make the mixed-income community work over the long haul. He told the audience: “Anyone can develop housing. The question is: Who can manage it?”
