Park Edgewater

Foster and Sheridan Chicago, IL

Ansonia identified the opportunity to transform a dilapidated single-story retail building set behind a large parking lot into a vibrant mixed-use gateway to Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood.  Working cooperatively with community leaders, Ansonia utilized the existing zoning capacity of the 100,000 square foot site to create a redevelopment plan that included 365 residential units in two towers as well as a state of the art replacement store for the grocery tenant.  Residences were designed to maximize spectacular unobstructed views of the downtown skyline and lakefront, and the towers were oriented to minimize their impact on neighboring buildings and each other.  The site design also addressed a longstanding community concern by providing for a new off-street CTA bus turnaround, resulting in improved safety for pedestrians and vehicles while creating an inviting retail center.  A new Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district was created to help underwrite the cost of relocating the buses that historically have idled in front of the site at the end of their routes.