LAKEVIEW — Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) is inviting neighbors to weigh in on a long-term vision for Lakeview as part of a new community plan for the 44th Ward, the first of its kind in nearly two decades.
The plan — an extension of a resident survey conducted after Lawson was elected in 2023 — aims to address priorities for the neighborhood’s future, starting with the Clark Street corridor between Newport and Wellington avenues.
The area includes several vacant storefronts and parcels left behind by CTA’s $2 billion Red and Purple Modernization project, which Lawson said are key to the ward’s redevelopment efforts.
“We really need to do some planning for those sites in the next year or less,” Lawson said. “The immediate need is to come up with a plan for the vacant sites that we want to have redeveloped as quickly as possible. That area of Clark Street is our first focus area and then we’ll expand our scope from there.”
Lawson’s office is hosting a kickoff open house 6 p.m. Wednesday at the 19th District police station, 850 W. Addison St., for neighbors to share feedback and ideas that will help shape the community plan. Neighbors can RSVP for the meeting here.
The Clark Street corridor could use a commercial boost, Lawson said. The trends in the neighborhood have gone from traditional retail toward hospitality, health care and personal services, he said.
“Another thing that came up in our survey is that people would like a few more family-friendly businesses,” Lawson said. “We need to ensure we’re designing spaces for those types of tenants. We do pretty well on business attraction and retention compared to others, but it’s something we’re constantly working on with our chambers. We’re always looking at fun concepts in other neighborhoods and letting them know we’ve got space here.”
In the 2023 survey, which garnered more than 2,000 submissions from Lakeview residents, 60 percent of respondents said they wanted more retail and restaurants in the neighborhood, and 70 percent said they would like to see more outdoor dining.
Neighbors also want more entertainment options in the neighborhood, according to the survey results. There could be an opportunity to attract businesses like golf simulators, art classes, and theater, Lawson said.
“We probably have enough bars and personal services,” Lawson said. “But that’s something we’re always working on with our chamber, is trying to attract new businesses.”
One of the challenges is balancing the number of chain stores in the neighborhood while also creating a friendly environment for small, locally owned businesses, Lawson said. Lakeview has always had national retailers, but having a mix is key to a sustainable business district, he said.
“There’s the cost factor, taxes and so many other elements that go into this,” Lawson said. “I’m also concerned about the amount of medium-box commercial space we currently have in the neighborhood — there’s too much. That puts pressure on other landlords, so we need to be smarter about what we’re creating and work towards being more adaptive if someone wants to reuse a space in a new or different way.”
For businesses looking to occupy one-story properties, the tax burden is higher than on a two-story building with residential units on the second floor. That’s another hurdle and challenge for small businesses, Lawson said.
One-story buildings are taxed at a rate of 25 percent, compared to 10 percent for mixed-use properties, which are taxed at the same rate as residential homes. That burden is often passed down to businesses through triple-net leases, a type of commercial lease where the tenant is responsible for paying property taxes, building insurance and maintenance costs, which makes it difficult for smaller operations to thrive.
The higher the taxes, the more likely it is that national retailers move in, because they can shoulder the cost and risk, Lawson said.
“We need to find some relief at the county or state level for smaller, one-story commercial properties,” he said.
To address this, developers are adding apartments above storefronts in new projects, Lawson said. The mixed-use model can reduce property taxes by more than half, making it a more sustainable option for landlords and smaller businesses.
Walkability was by far the most-favored aspect of Lakeview among neighbors, according to the survey. More than 85 percent of respondents said it was their favorite part of the neighborhood, followed by neighborhood amenities, access to public transit and local businesses.
Each of those aspects is at the core of what Lawson’s community plan aims to tackle. Lakeview is a neighborhood that is already well developed. Other neighborhoods typically have long-term plans for reusing manufacturing of industrial land, but that’s already been done in Lakeview, Lawson said.
“[The community plan] is more about looking at the sites we know are opportunity sites,” he said. “Some of them are thriving right now with great businesses on them, but there might be a one-story building with a parking lot on a stretch that could otherwise be a nice, walkable retail street. Knowing they’re not going anywhere anytime soon, we want to have a plan in place for when they do.”
