“The 3900 block of West Eddy Street in Irving Park is lined with massive trees and large single-family homes, most with charming front porches and neatly-kept lawns.
“But a sprawling stucco home at 3917-21 W. Eddy St. stands out. The rundown, 105-year-old home sits next door to a vacant lot, and while neighbors know the house needs work, they don’t love a developer’s plan to replace it with condos.
“During a night meeting at La Villa Restaurant on January 16, 2020, 3632 N. Pulaski Road, developer R&S Enterprises told a group of neighbors their plans to tear down the home and replace it with three new condo buildings on the 10,937 square-foot lot.
“Neighbors say condos would ruin the block’s character. More than 40 people attended Thursday’s meeting, with most opposed to the condo development. The group hoped showing up would convince Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30th) to reject a zoning change developers would need to build on the block.
“That’s the biggest single lot on the block,” said Sean Maloney, who lives on Eddy Street. “If you’re going to grant a zoning exception for that lot you might as well do it for the whole block. Because this is the first domino and it will change the entire block.”
“Maloney said he bought a home in the neighborhood seven years ago because of Eddy Street’s aesthetics — big green yards and single family homes. Blocks like these are rare in a big city like Chicago. “Single family homes on double sized lots are becoming increasingly rare in the city,” he said. “That’s why people are moving to the suburbs. In the city there’s no room for kids to play.” (Hernandez, Block Club Chicago, 1/17/20)
Chicago needs to embrace existing and historic single family homes and preserve them to encourage long-term stakeholder presence in our neighborhoods. The mix of single-family homes with smaller condo apartments and higher density rental units is important to ensure long-term neighborhood stability as smaller condo units often draw short-term investors and stakeholders.