Cyrus Proposes Townhomes for Former Hines Lumber Site

Cyrus Proposes Townhomes for Former Hines Lumber Site
By Bill Smith

Cyrus Homes is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission Dec. 14 with a proposal to build 42 townhouses on the former Edward Hines Lumber Company site at 1613 Church St.

Ron Fleckman, president of Cyrus Homes, describes the layout of the Church Street Village development at a community meeting Nov. 18 at the Civic Center.

Church Street Village would be one of the first new developments in the West Evanston Tax Increment Financing District the City Council approved last month.

The site is also just across the abandoned Mayfair branch railroad right-of-way from the Onyx Waste Services transfer station.

At a community meeting on the project Nov. 18, City Community Development Director James Wolinski said, "I think right now there's a tremendous amount of risk to this project - that people may question whether they want to live next to a waste transfer station."

But Alderman Lionel Jean-Baptiste, 2nd Ward, said, "Onyx is not going to be there forever. It devalues the community and diminishes the quality of life for people living there. "We're looking for ways for Onyx to be accommodated elsewhere. It's at the top of our agenda.

"Onyx is within the TIF district," he said, "and that increases the power and authority the City will have to affect change there."

Church Street Village "is an incentive to take even more aggressive action so that people aren't taking such a big risk when they invest," Ald. Jean-Baptiste said.

Cyrus Homes Chairman Walter Kihm Jr. said the three-story brick buildings with a Philadelphia row house design will have two- and three-bedroom units, most with two-car garages and 2.5 baths.

"These will be moderately-priced units that two-income working families can afford," he said, estimating prices would range from $360,000 to $420,000," said Mr. Kihm.

Mr. Kihm said the firm plans to market the units initially to Evanston school teachers, police officers and firefighters.

"Hines is selling off its urban locations, moving out north and west, where more large-scale development is happening," Mr. Kihm said. He added that Hines, which has had a yard at the site since 1890, is partnering with Cyrus to redevelop the property.

Some neighbors, including Hans Simon, who lives at 1608 Davis St., across Mason Park from the site, complained that the project is too dense, with not enough green space.

"I'm a professor at Northwestern University," Mr. Simon said, "I'm one of the target people, basically, but I know not a single one of my colleagues would consider this. They want to have some garden space, a back yard."

But Lynne Heidt, a real estate broker marketing the project, said, "Many Northwestern people are moving into tiny spaces, or moving out of Evanston to find something in this price range.

"People have to start somewhere," she said. "There's a park across the street. It's an obvious and logical development."

Some neighbors voiced fears that the development would add to parking congestion in the area, but Cyrus Homes President Ron Fleckman said the plans call for 94 garage and open parking spaces, which he said is 40 more than required by City zoning for the site.

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