Ravine Park offers alternative North Center projects

Community given looks at different design options, can weigh in

Ravine Park’s Greg Moyer with renderings of 3950 North Damen and 3959 North Lincoln avenues
Ravine Park’s Greg Moyer with renderings of 3950 North Damen and 3959 North Lincoln avenues (Getty, Ravine Park, Lamar Johnson Collaborative)

Ravine Park Partners provided multiple new options to North Center residents for the redevelopment of a bank building in the neighborhood, after some members of the community didn’t support a previous proposal.

The development firm founded by Jeff Annenberg and Greg Moyer is working on a plan to transform a portion of the six-point intersection of Damen and Lincoln avenues and West Irving Park Road, and presented two more designs for the project after the city and community rejected previous versions, Urbanize Chicago reported.

Ravine Park showed two potential heights and unit counts for the parking lot at 3950 North Damen Avenue and the repurposing of the Fifth Third Bank building at 3959 North Lincoln Avenue.

The developers presented the new options, featuring differing building heights and unit counts, in response to community feedback that previous plans were too tall. Designed by Lamar Johnson Collaborative, the new project proposals included a seven-story option with a smaller, five-story portion further south. The second option had an eight-story portion to the north, but an even smaller, four-story section to the south.

The seven- and five-story plans call for 176 residential units, divided into 70 smaller one-bedrooms and studios, 33 standard one-bedroom units and 73 two- and three-bedroom units. Fifth Third Bank will occupy 3,500 square feet of commercial space and there will be 1,700 square feet of additional retail space. Plans also call for a fitness center, bike storage and 73 parking spaces.

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The eight- and four-story plans would include 166 residential units, with 65 smaller one-beds and studios, 33 standard one-bedrooms and 68 two- and three-bedroom units. The retail portion, including the space Fifth Third Bank will occupy, would span the same amount of space as the other option.

Both of the plans also call for a rehab of the existing bank building on Lincoln. Two five-story additions on the wings of the building will hold 92 total units, divided into 46 one-bedrooms and 46 two- and three-bedroom units. The ground floor of that building will also have 5,000 square feet of retail and 22 parking spaces.

Of the residential units, about 20 percent will be marketed to people making 60 percent of the area median income.

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— Victoria Pruitt