End of the road for YWCA building

11/12/2009 1:35 PM

By Micah Maidenberg
Editor

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The YWCA building at 830 S. Michigan will be demolished, leaving a gap between the Johnson Co. Publishing building and 888 S. Michigan, a condo building.
Lawyers representing the City of Chicago and Michigan 830 LLC, the building's owner, informed Judge Ann Houser in Cook County Circuit Court of the move this morning.
The YWCA building is considered a contributing structure in the Historic Michigan Boulevard District, a prominent stretch of landmarked buildings between Randolph and 11th Street. But the Y's deteriorated conditions overruled protections afforded under the Landmark Ordinance - the Department of Buildings considered the structure an eminent danger, a city lawyer told Judge Houser this morning.
Joel Resnick, a lawyer representing the building's owners, testified that saving the facade would cost up to $5 million. An engineering report Michigan 830 LLC commissioned this summer found the building's facade could be saved with bracing.
In addition to Resnick, Michigan 830 LLC has retained a law firm headed by Samuel Banks. Banks's group specializes in zoning. A lawyer from the firm shared a letter with residents of the 888 S. Michigan building the firm sent to Ald. Robert Fioretti that outlined the zoning classifications at 830 S. Michigan.
The land at 830 S. Michigan is divided into two - one parcel faces Wabash, the other Michigan. The latter parcel is zoned DX-16, allowing a building of up to 440 feet containing 400 units. The Wabash parcel, however, has a more restrictive zoning, at DX-12.


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