Extended protest from a neighboring Black historic church and Evanston landmark was not enough to squelch a five-story, 30-unit apartment complex on Emerson Street from being approved, with conditions, in City Council.
Aldermen voted 5-1 on July 13 to move forward with major zoning variations in order to grant approval for the multi-family building, located at 1103-1105 Emerson Street in the city’s 5th Ward.
The proposal for the construction project, submitted by PM Properties, LLC, has been stalled in council numerous times in recent months, following height and density concerns from Ebenezer A.M.E. Church, 1109 Emerson Street, the site’s neighbor to the west.
Serving as Evanston’s oldest Black church after standing for more than a century, Ebenezer A.M.E.’s congregation felt the proposed adjacent apartment building would harm the church’s structural integrity and preserved architecture.
“It is a disgrace next to a historical landmark Black church over 100 years old,” said Priscilla Giles, a longtime Evanston resident who opposes the project.
“This so-called affordable building is nothing any of you on the dais would want next to your home or your house of worship. It seems like this quota is being filled.”
The mid-rise apartment building will replace two properties currently located at the site and offer three affordable housing units at 40% of the area’s total median income, which according to Ald. Bobby Burns, 5th, is a monthly rent of about $1,100 for a two-bedroom unit.
“Our community needs that,” Burns said in defense of the project at the July 13 Council meeting.
“I can’t tell you how many people reach out, who go on Zillow or wherever, and all they can find is two bedrooms in the $2,000s. They need this. I can’t stress that enough.”
Burns continued that the misconception that the apartment project would tear the church down needed to be corrected.
“We’re not tearing any historic, anything down, whether a Black historic building or not. It is a private owner who is proposing a housing development on their property,” Burns said.
“The only way that I see it impacting the church, which I want to protect and preserve, will be addressed or prevented by the things that are included in the good neighbor agreement, which is why we included it in the ordinance.”
At their June 22 City Council meeting, alders approved an inclusion of such an agreement to address harsh critiques from Evanston’s Historic Preservation Commission the month prior.
Under the new agreement, PM Properties, LLC, would have to work alongside the city to get final approval on exterior building colors and materials prior to the issuance of a construction permit for the site.
The developer would also need to “replace the building elevations” and submit documentation regarding the conditions of the Church structure and property prior to receiving a permit.
Additionally, PM Properties, LLC, must agree to not install an “amplified” sound system on the proposed apartment building’s rooftop deck. It must also remove the old 4-foot wooden fence surrounding Ebenezer A.M.E.’s parking lot and construct a new 6-foot tall wooden privacy fence in the same area.
On-site noise monitoring of the apartment building to notify the property’s manager of excessive sound from future tenants will also be required, according to the good neighbor agreement.
“It is not an empty promise,” Burns added about the agreement. “It is codified in ordinance, it is enforceable, not only by that ordinance, but by permits.”
“Demolition will not move forward, construction will not move forward, certificate of occupancy will not be provided unless those things are met.”
Church Pastor Deborah Y. Scott, who was present at the July 13 meeting, told Council members on the dais she remained concerned about the city’s commitment to holding the project’s developer accountable.
“My church members still have concerns,” Scott said.
“They don’t feel that the city, they don’t have confidence that the city will enforce this good neighbor agreement. That’s really based upon how things have gone in these meetings.”
Scott added that the congregation “never heard from the Council to say these are the steps that you need to take when someone is building next to a historic property.”
“It was kind of, we learned on the job, and we didn’t hear the care or concern,” she said. “And so, as of yesterday, my members simply said they didn’t want to move on this because they don’t have the confidence.”
“If anyone in the congregation feels like they can’t trust the city to enforce [the good neighbor agreement], that’s understandable,” Burns said in defense.
“But I appreciate Pastor Scott saying that it is a matter of trust. Everything is in there, and I’ve made sure of that.”
But the Emerson Street project nevertheless gained the Council approval it needed to move forward with site construction, though permits will hinge on the developer’s ability to follow through with the good neighbor agreement with the church.
Council members did not confirm at the Monday meeting when exactly construction will begin.
Ald. Clare Kelly, 1st, was the only dissenting vote of the six Council members present for the meeting.
“I just cannot support this this evening for the reasons that we heard from the pastor and others,” Kelly said.
“It’s not so much the height as much as the mass, the massing, just diminishing the presence of the church. And also, this may not be Black owners, but this is as you know, a very special, historically Black neighborhood that deserves special care and consideration…the design is lacking and is going to undermine the church’s presence and the overall neighborhood.”
