Wrecking Wrigleyville?

Hyatt proposed for Clark and Addison

By STEVE RHODES

Updated 9:00 AM CST, Mon, Dec 22, 2008

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M & R Development

The shops and bars that make up Wrigleyville are so much a part of the DNA of the neighborhood that Chicagoans hardly think twice about the commercial mix anymore, but a developer is still honing plans that would drastically alter the familiar corner of Clark and Addison - directly across from venerable Wrigley Field.

The proposal for a "mixed-use mega-complex" called Addison Park on Clark - which would include a Hyatt Place hotel, a health club, about 200 residential units and 500 parking spaces - has met with early resistance but is still alive in its third iteration, the Chicago Journal reported earlier this month.

"[A] committee of local residents and business owners who have thus far been critical of the size, design and potential impact of the proposed complex," the Journal reports. "Designers have been shot down twice by the community council for plans deemed too large and too dense."

The Hyatt portion of the plan appears to be shaping up as something of a linchpin to the project.

"Some residents . . . expressed interest in keeping the hotel," the Journal reports, "which could increase foot traffic during the Cubs' off-season. However, developers said the hotel would be the first element scrapped from the design for the sake of complying with size concerns."

(Can you imagine the demand for a hotel room across from Wrigley Field? They could probably charge more than a rooftop.)

Schultz has also said that he already has a signed letter of intent with CVS Pharmacy and that interest has been shown by Dominick's and Best Buy, among other retailers.

The proposal has already gone through several iterations. Last January, the Tribune described the project as "a nine-story, mixed-use development with a hotel that would stand virtually eye-to-eye with Wrigley Field," and even then developer Steven Schultz said that was scaled down from plans for a structure that would have been 25 to 30 stories high.

"Designers said they plan to continue discussions with the community," the Journal reports,"and will not apply for building and zoning permits until they have broader community approval."
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Or the alderman, this being Chicago. And on that score, Schultz is looking good.

"In my mind, people feel the site is underutilized and underdeveloped," Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said in October, "and it's certainly not an asset to the community at large, so there needs to be development on this site."