On Monday, November 13th, Alderwoman Hadden and the owner of the property at 6540 N. Glenwood Ave. hosted a community meeting to discuss a proposed zoning change for the property located at 6540 N. Glenwood Ave. A recording of the meeting can be viewed here.

 

The property owner, David Kamish, has requested a zoning change from RS-3 to RM-6.5 to reduce the minimum lot area to allow five additional studio units at the ground floor of the existing 4 story, 33 dwelling unit building. The five new units will be rented at affordable rents in order to satisfy the city's Affordable Requirements Ordinance. In addition to the requested rezoning, zoning variations will be requested to reduce required parking to zero and to eliminate the rear yard open space requirement.

 

Subjected to a severe fire in December 2021, this property could not be rebuilt as-of-right due to its current zoning (RS-3). The property was downzoned by a previous Aldermanic administration. This downzoning prevented the building from restoring the 33 units that existed prior to the fire. Since a rezoning would be necessary to rehabilitate the building to its previous condition, the owner is seeking to maximize additional units with this proposed zoning change, increasing the unit count from 33 to 38. Since a zoning change is requested, the property would be subjected to the city's Affordable Requirements Ordinance to set aside 20% of the units as affordable to the area median income (AMI).

 

Additionally, the proposed zoning change would require the property to provide 19 parking spaces as well as rear and side yard setbacks to the building on the property. Since the building exists already, these requirements would be physically impossible to satisfy, so the property owner is seeking variations to satisfy those zoning requirements.

 

In addition to structural repairs to the building, as well as the rehabilitation of the existing units, the owner plans to create a gym, rehabbed laundry and mechanical spaces, new rear porches and stairs, as well as updated landscaping to the front of the property. 

 

Our office received 60 responses to our community survey, in which 70% of respondents were in favor of granting this zoning change. At this time, Alderwoman Hadden will SUPPORT the zoning change request for 6540 N. Glenwood Ave. With the addition of affordable units, as well as ADA-accessible units on the first floor, Alderwoman Hadden felt this was a unique solution for the owner to reimagine the building with more units. Additionally, the development would fall into the ETOD zone of the Loyola Red Line station and is located near alternative transportation, meaning tenants would be less likely to own a vehicle.

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the 49th Ward Manager of Economic Development, Kyle Ryan, at 773-338-5796 or emailing kyle@49thward.org.

​

​

​

​