Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
Where there's a will, and demand, there's a way.
Right now there is still too much developable land in the South Loop so nothing will happen for the forseeable future. But combine diminishing vacant sites with higher property values, perhaps a new L stop (for the 78), and aging of the Dearborn Park properties to the point where there will be a substantial increase in maintenance costs, and eventually that whole neighborhood will be vanquished.
I'm pretty sure the city will have a lot of leverage with a developer who wants to upzone DP parcels that he plans to develop, one of which would be to force him to reconnect some streets that are currently cul de sac'd or walled off.
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The upkeep on those buildings definitely has to be catching up to the residents.
Here is a listing to a unit in one of the taller condo buildings along State. The HOA fee is damn near 800/mo! That's double the monthly property tax escrow. While I'm sure it includes things like water, and/or internet and TV service (heat is electric, so that would most likely fall under the owners ComEd bill. Also, no central air!?), it still seems like a crazy amount. No doubt a lot of it is going to maintenance and repairs.
Give it a quarter century. Once every spare lot between Congress and Cermak is spoken for, Dearborn Park is coming down.