A downtown residents group is lobbying Evanston City Council to block a proposed 26-story apartment tower at 900 Clark St.

The Downtown Evanston Residents Association (DERA) met Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the Evanston Public Library to organize its campaign against the Continuum Development high-rise. The Land Use Commission (LUC) recommended approval in a 4-1 vote on Wednesday, Sept. 23. The council could take up the project as early as Monday, Oct. 12, according to the Evanston RoundTable, though no official agenda has confirmed that date.

Gul Agha, DERA president, told the RoundTable he was "actually quite disappointed" in the commission's recommendation and said some commissioners did not appear to take residents' concerns seriously. Agha said he has already met with council members representing the downtown area and plans to present survey data collected from DERA's membership.

The group's reach is limited. DERA Secretary Pat Blumen said the association has about 280 members among more than 9,000 downtown residents. She said the group has met with all four aldermen whose wards touch the downtown area but acknowledged that DERA's numbers are too small to carry political weight with those officials.

What the Tower Would Bring

The proposed tower at the north end of Church Street Plaza would stand 298 feet tall, nearly double the 150-foot height allowed by right in the site's Research Park zoning district. City Council would need to approve a site development allowance for the project to proceed.

The building would include 360 apartments: 193 studios, 104 one-bedrooms, 54 two-bedrooms and nine three-bedrooms, plus about 2,500 square feet of ground-floor retail. Seventy-two units, or 20%, would be affordable to households earning 60% of the area median income, meeting the city's inclusionary housing ordinance. That affordability threshold would qualify the project for a Cook County property tax reduction program, Evanston Now reported.

Residents would lease 112 parking spaces in the Maple Avenue parking garage. Demolition of the existing building on the site was already underway as of September.

The Opposition Case

DERA's concerns center on wind, traffic, building height and the project's unit mix. A survey of 92 DERA members found that 95% said they have experienced wind problems downtown, and 65% said they experience uncomfortable or strong wind in winter "often" or "very often." Respondents generally favored mid-rise buildings of four to nine stories over high-rises.

Some residents at the Sept. 30 meeting also worried the tower's mostly small units would attract Northwestern University students rather than families.

Agha, who also serves as president of the Optima Views Condominium Association at 1720 Maple Ave. across the street from the proposed site, raised wind concerns at a Sept. 9 LUC hearing. He told Evanston Now at the time that the building's street-level design would create a canyon effect, arguing that nothing would thrive next to a tall building built right up to the sidewalk.

The Developer's Response

At the Sept. 23 LUC hearing, the developer's consultant said existing roadways have capacity for the new traffic, and a wind study found the project could increase winds but not to uncomfortable levels. The development team said the building's orientation would limit impacts on the Optima Views tower.

Commissioner Brian Johnson, who voted to recommend the project, said at the Sept. 23 hearing that if Evanston is going to have a new tallest building, "there's no better place."

Some DERA members said they view Mayor Daniel Biss's planned October departure as an opportunity for the group to gain influence. The council vote on 900 Clark St. remains unscheduled as of Oct. 1.