High-Rise Feature Story As a Chicago resident who works in Evanston, Marc Giordano said he is concerned development practices in his hometown could be spreading north. “I’ve gone through neighborhoods in Chicago that have been gentrified. Once it starts, it doesn’t seem to stop,” said Giordano, 52, who works at his family business, the Giordano Dance Center. Two plans to build high-rise condominium towers in downtown Evanston have residents questioning the city’s future and the cause of the recent development boom. Both buildings would be located behind Fountain Square, a triangular plaza at the intersection of Church Street, Orrington Avenue and Sherman Avenue. The newest plan, proposed May 29 by R.D. Horner & Associates and HAS Commercial Real Estate, calls for construction of a 37-story, mixed-use building with two levels of retail and between 250 and 270 condominium units, according to the Evanston Review. The original plan, introduced by Klutznick-Fisher Development Co. and Focus Development Inc. about a month before Horner’s, called for a 49-story condominium tower on the block’s north side, the Review reported. Evanston native Michelle Lyle, 24, said building the high-rises would change the city’s image. “Evanston used to be so family oriented,” she said. “I’m just not sure what direction Evanston is going in.” Barbara Wood, 49, of Evanston, said she is not opposed to the idea of luxury condos. But the size of a high-rise does not fit with the rest of the city, Wood said. “More development could be done in a less invasive, obnoxious way,” she said. Calling developers’ motivation for building the condos “pure greed,” Wood said she wants Evanston’s character maintained. While he said he understands why many residents oppose the high-rise plans, Jim Mizell, 60, of Evanston, said those residents are not looking at the issue objectively. “Evanston is too sophisticated a community not to have a vital downtown area,” he said. Giordano said the value of his building would rise if development continues downtown, but he does not want “to threaten the old infrastructure of the city,” including the dance center, family owned and operated for 55 years. “They’re creating a cavern,” he said, referencing the proximity of the Sherman Plaza tower, the Chase Building and the proposed high-rise to one another. “It doesn’t seem very livable to me.”
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