Downtown Evanston residents who would be neighbors of a proposed 31-story, 430-unit apartment building, if it is built, will get a chance to demonstrate their concerns that the tower will negatively affect their quality of life to the city’s Land Use Commission, the commission voted Wednesday evening, July 23.
Five residents who live close to the proposed building at 605 Davis Street gave public comment and sent letters to the Land Use Commission requesting to be heard before the commission votes on whether to approve the proposed building. The residents said they have concerns about traffic the new building will cause, the potential wind effects that come with it, its density and overall parking issues it could cause.
Under the city’s code, property owners that live within 1,000 feet of a proposed development have the right to ask for one continuance, or additional Land Use Commission meeting, “for the purpose of presenting evidence to rebut testimony given by the applicant.” The city’s staff verifies a person’s address via public property tax records.
Vermilion Development Group’s Managing Director Kerry Dickson speaks at an April 29, 2025 community meeting about a proposed 31-story building at 605 Davis Street at the Evanston Public Library. (Richard Requena/Pioneer Press)
Proposed by Vermilion Group and Campbell Coyle, plans call for the building near the corner of Davis Street and Chicago Avenue to have 430 apartments, with 20% of them rented at affordable rates. That is 5% higher than the city’s inclusionary housing ordinance, Kerry Dickson, Vermilion’s manager director, said.
The proposal has changed after rounds of public hearings, Dickson said. In their original application to the city, the developers proposed 447 apartments for the 331-foot tower. Variations in the proposal include more two- and three-bedroom units to accommodate families, which decreased the total number of units to 430, and a smaller bike room to allow for more retail space on the ground floor, among other shifts.
At a public hearing in April, residents had mixed reactions to the proposal, with some residents skeptical of the parking, wind and affordable housing studies that the developers presented.
The Land Use Commission will give the residents an opportunity to present their case at its Aug. 13 meeting.
The city of Evanston’s Planning Manager Elizabeth Williams said, “They have the opportunity to present evidence at that continuance hearing to be able to basically refute anything that was presented by the applicant or anything specific to their continuance requests.”
Previously, traffic studies presented by the developers predict the traffic impact that the building would create will be minimal. The development as proposed would have 80 onsite parking spots and 120 parking spots leased at a city-owned parking garage a block away on Davis Street, according to Dickson. The developers requested a variance to the city’s zoning code, which otherwise would have required the developers to offer 250 parking spaces for the development.
The developers also asked for a variance in the city’s zoning code to build 430 apartments, whereas the city allows 95 dwelling units to be built on those downtown parcels.
Residents were also concerned about the development’s Floor Area Ratio, frequently referred to as FAR, a measurement of a building’s floor area compared to its lot size, according to the American Planning Association. “] Planners and zoning officials consider it in determining whether a building will fit into the character of a neighborhood.
Part of the reason the proposal could get a variance from the LUC and City Council is that the development includes the University Building at 1604 Chicago Avenue in its FAR score. That made some residents skeptical because no additions or renovations to the University Building are expected to be part of the development.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Dickson said about the University Building’s inclusion in the development, “They’re our partner in this project…They’ve owned the University Building and this lot [at 605 Davis St.] for the 50 years it’s been vacant,” he said.