Without a word about the shadows that will be cast over Ohio Street Beach, the City Council approved a pair of high-rise condominium towers on Lake Shore Drive, opposed by local residents for their size.
The unanimous vote in favor of the towers, 46 and 40 stories tall, ended a two-decade battle to preserve full sunlight on the patch of sand near Navy Pier, despite the encroaching development of Streeterville.
Scheduled to be built by 2010 with a groundbreaking expected next spring, shade from the buildings at 600 N. Lake Shore Drive will cover up to 75 percent of Ohio Street Beach on late-August afternoons, according to architectural renderings submitted to the city by Belgravia Group Ltd., the project’s developer.
Even taller buildings, throwing larger shadows, were approved over the years for that vacant parcel, but each time the plans lost financing or were abandoned, city officials say.
Where a 49-story building proposed in 2000 drew loud resistance from scores of beachgoers and several local and citywide groups, opposition to the Belgravia towers was limited to a handful of residents and office workers within walking distance of the beach.
“It’s been the same fight over and over all these years. You kind of lose steam,” said Susan Alico, who owns a condominium across Ohio Street from the 401-unit luxury development. Still, “I would have thought more people would have come out in opposition. That beach is one of the city’s most precious parks.”
Belgravia said it made several alterations to its original design in efforts to mitigate worries about the shadows. Most notably, the developer split what was originally a taller and broader condominium tower into two smaller and slimmer buildings. Belgravia also agreed to set back the buildings at least 10 feet from the Lake Shore Drive property line.
When built, the luxury condominiums will be next to a W Chicago-Lakeshore hotel and several office buildings and restaurants in the Streeterville neighborhood. With prices expected to start at $400,000 for a one-bedroom condominium and $1 million for a three-bedroom unit, the condominiums also will offer buyers a short walk to Ohio Street Beach.
