53rd Street News

Visioning 53rd Street and TIF: News, planning and redevelopment thoughts, of "other voices" and controversies

A service of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, its Development Zoning and Preservation task force, and its website, www.hydepark.org. Help support our work as watchdog, forum and clearing house: Join the Conference.

More, updates in the Business Climate page and pages navigated from Development home. See also What's in Play and the Development Copmmittee. 53rd TIF home. More from TIF Advisory Council meetings minutes. Visit Harper Court home: more! Harper Area RFP Guidelines.
Read 2000 A Vision for the Hyde Park Retail District. Checkerboard Lounge. HP Theater, Theater RFP. Harper Court home. 53rd Mobil, Village Center, Antheus. Development and Policy. Business Climate. Zoning Reform home. History and Preservation. Community and Neighborhood News. Urban Renewal/redevelopment Timeline. See also Business and Students. Metra-Lake Park and other streetscape.
(Shortcut to analysis/position papers by Spicer, Lesniewski) Prelim. results Harper Ct. Survey: http://www.hydepark.org/survey.
May 3rd Workshop page: To Notes on May 3 Vision Workshop II.
Pics turned in at the May Workshop: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26852843@N07/
View G. Rumsey's pics of the May Workshop at http://picasaweb.google.com/crcrumsey/53rdStreetVisionWorkshop.
To From final report of Dec. 8 2007 Workshop. More reports at http://www.vision53.org/12.html.

Here:

Roadmap from there to next steps:

Watch also in http://www.vision53.org -the TIF based Irene Sherr site- equals http://www.hydeparkchicago.org/3.html (SECC website)
Direct to vote tallies, in this site. Or visit http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=po-CusQhQ1-YNafbkWI3ibg&hl=en&pli=14)
More reports at http://www.vision53.org/12.html.
All comments on Harper Area RFP guideline draft: http://www.vision53.org/index.html.

Pics turned in at the May 3 Workshop: Irene Sherr writes:

For those that are interested, one can find photos from the various walking tours from the may 3rd Workshop on the site. Feel free to add comments, it will enliven it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/26852843@N07/

I have also created a 53rd St. Group, http://www.flickr.com/groups/53rd_st_vision/

View G. Rumsey's pics of the May Workshop at http://picasaweb.google.com/crcrumsey/53rdStreetVisionWorkshop.

Read about the Model Block Exercise, for November 15, 2008.
http://www.housinginitiative.org/video.html and http://www.housinginitiative.org/aout.html.

There are many blogs on development in Hyde Park now including Good Neighbors, hydeparkmajority, hydeparkprogress and hydeparkurbanist- see in Neighborhood Links page. For reports and background papers on Harper Court, visit James Withrow's Hyde Park Urbanist- http://alwaysintransit.typepad.com/hyde_park_urbanist/.

To Principles of the 2004 Zoning Ordinance:
http://www.duncanplan.com/pdfs_all/chicago_zoning_principles.pdf

Announcements, meetings and alerts-

Next TIF meeting September 8, , 7 pm, Kenwood Academy Little Theater, 5015 S. Blackstone.
August 18, Monday the TIF Planning and Development Subcommittee will meet at 6:30 pm at Hyde Park Art Center to review the Antheus proposal for Village Center shopping center redevelopment at E. Hyde Park Blvd. and Lake Park.

See Harper Court Survey results at http://www.hydepark.org/survey.

Visit for report on the December 8 2007 Workshop, www.vision53.org or transcription in this site: December 8 page.

See notes on May 3 53rd Vision Workshop II in own page.

At the May 12 TIF meeting it was annouced that Giordano's has decided to restore its unique facade and add a story onto its pizza restaurant on Blackstone south of 53rd Street.

 

From the July 14 TIF meeting

July 14 2008 TIF meeting saw much-
1. Roll out of Village Center proposal to enthusiasm(see Antheus page-open Committee to review August 18);
2. Reports on Harper Court Area updates:

At the July 14 TIF meeting, TIF Plg. and Dev. Chair Chuck Thurow expanded upon and pushed his committee's strengthening revisions (after a May meeting) to the draft guidelines for Harper Court Area RFQ/RFP. There was general approval from the audience. Tim Brangle of Chicago Consultants Studio echoed these high standards and Hyde Park-consistent principles-- as did also presentation from the UC Student Committee on Retail. Timetable indicated below continues on track.
3. Reports on other developments/upgrades (Giordano's to keep historic facade on Blackstone s. of 53rd while remodeling and going up a floor-looked attractive; new cafe planned for old HP Produce)
No report on 53rd Theater/Herald (Susan Campbell of UC had a death in the family)
4. UC Student Retail Committee reported on needs and structural, other barriers to drawing students to business districts, esp. 53rd.

 

Publications point to likely retail devel, possibly a national anchor in Hyde Park.

Real estate publications, study have recently (mid 2008) spotlighted HP retail development prospects, including for a national anchor. Does this point to a possible "other road" the University may be pursuing along side the public process? Neighborhood's diversity cited as a key asset and its dollar leakage as inviting development. (See Antheus page article on Village Center for discussion of another key element--enough space to draw in a set of different retail venues.)

Herald, July 16, 2008

Two recently published reports suggest Hyde Park is poised to experience a spate of retail development and consider the conditions the neighborhood requires to fuel that possibility. Pointing to the University of Chicago's recent real estate acquisitions along 53rd Street, the Illinois Real Estate Journal suggests that one key component to a resurgence of the retail strip--a national retail anchor--is much more likely to emerge.

Meanwhile, an unrelated study by DePaul University's Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development reveals that the neighborhood's diversity is an important element for drawing businesses here.

The Illinois Real Estate Journal quotes Barry Schain, principal of Next Realty, as seeing a large anchor tenant in the neighborhood "within reach" given the university's ownership of the Harper Theater and Herald Building on the northwest corner of 53rd Street and Harper Avenue and its recent purchases of Harper Court on the nearby parcel between 52nd and 53rd streets on Harper Avenue.

The article also points to significant "leakage," meaning residents shopping outside of the neighborhood, as a sure sign of potential new retail development. The article identified $37.32 million in home improvement leakage, and $17.13 and $.16 million in apparel and grocery leakage, respectfully.

The Chaddick Institute study, after describing diversity as "an important business development tool," identified Hyde Park as the third most diverse neighborhood in Chicago and the most diverse in terms of diversity of income.

While exploring the possibilities for Hyde Park's retail future, the Illinois Real Estate Journal cautioned those looking to the possible 2016 Olympic bid as a retail draw. "What people should be considering is, is this the potential home for the Barack Obama Presidential Library in four years? " David Baum, principal of Baum Realty Group LLC, told the journal. "Real estate is something that has to be used 365 days a year - you don't sign a 20-year leases [for the period when the Olympics will be in town]."

Until recently, Baum was the developer for the university's property on the northwest corner of 53rd Street. Baum told the journal that their unsuccessful efforts to land the kind of tenants the university is after reflect shaky retail economy. "It's certainly indicative of the market on some level," Baum said. "There are a lot of people not ready to pull the trigger. We're getting deals done, but [tenants] are more guarded right now."

Baum also said the university had contracted with him to have a certain percentage of the tenants sighed within a time frame and opted out when that goal was not met.

....all eyes appear to be on te neighborhood, ready for signs of a retail resurgence.

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The Osco site, the anchor at the east end of Dorchester Commons in the 1400 block of E. 53rd St., will have a Fifth Third Bank branch. The realty firm is globalfirm CB Richard Ellis, the construction company is Detroit-based minority owned Jenkins Construction. It has support of Ald. Preckwinkle and the Chicago Urban League, which will help direct workers to the project from its Entrepreneurship Center training and jobs program run jointly with the Kellogg School of Mangement.

Hansel Whitehurst, Jenkins business says the project (or at least the minority ownership and training part) is supporting "the Hyde Park community vision of the Urban League and Ald. Preckwinkle" according to the Herald. Whether this will be widely viewed as "vision" for 53rd retail redevelopment remains to be seen.

There has indeed been much disgust at this move. The following letter ties this feeling to call for sensible retail advance whether or not everyone agrees on the examples cited.

June 18, 2008 Herald carries letter by Joseph Samuelson, "Fifth/Third Bank a waste of space"

I could hardly contain my excitement when I read about t he arrival of a Fifth/Third Bank to the former Osco Drug space. We finally have the much needed 5th bank (pun intended) on 53rd Street. What a great way to attract foot traffic and commerce to our neighborhood. Of course, I am being facetious.

I am surprised that this newspaper's editors had nothing to say on the matter in the June 11th edition. This is the biggest waste of retail space every. Do we really need another bank in Hyde Park? Are Hyde Parkers so wealthy that they need to diversify their checking accounts? Your article quotes Alderman Preckwinkle as being "very supportive." Is this all she could pull off? Finally, there is something stupid we can really criticize.

In my opinion, Hyde Park has little chance of an economic recovery at the rate we are heading. When good proposals come up, i.e. a hotel, getting rid of decrepit Harper Court, the failing Co-Op, they are shot out the window. Bring in another bank, and no one makes a sound! It's about time the community got behind people that are really trying to improve Hyde Park, instead of wallowing in our failing institutions and supporting silly ideas like this one.

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March 10 TIF Advisory Council

Hyde Park Herald, March 19, 2008. By Sam Cholke

53rd ST. dominates TIF meeting

The 3rd Street TIF advisory council meeting on March 10 proved anticlimactic for those who anticipated a breakthrough on redevelopment of Harper Court.

George Rumsey, president of the Hyde Park Kenwood community Conference, presented the initial results of a survey about how people want to see Harper Court redeveloped. The survey is a joint effort of the TIF council and HPKCC. Rumsey said the council has been getting about 00 responses a day and that slightly more since it put a link up on the social networking Web sit Facebook.com. There were more than 1,600 responses to the survey as of March 10, he said. The survey will be available until Thursday at hydepark.org/survey.

"Passing out results of the survey now could skew it," said Irene Sherr of Community Counsel, a local planning and development consulting firm. Rumsey contended that the results compiled so far were too general to dramatically alter the final data.

Half of the responses were from people ages 19 to 39, with ages 19-29 and 30-39 each accounting for about 25 percent of the total. Seventy percent identified themselves as white. "African American results doubled in the last week," Rumsey said. Eighteen percent of respondents identified themselves as African American or Black, according to Rumsey's preliminary results.

"People are really making use of the comment box," Rumsey said. Rumsey said he has 56 single-spaced pages of comments so far to go through. A lot of people say they want more businesses in the neighborhood that are open ate 9 p.m.--and that's not just coming from the younger respondents, it's across the board, he said.

Sherr next presented the draft report analyzing the poll results at the Dec. 8 53rd Street Vision Workshop. There was a tremendous amount of consensus in the results, Sherr said. Diversity of the community ranked very high, she said. "The element is something that comes up all the time when we talk about development," Sherr said. "What does that really mean if we want to have more retail and housing?"

Sherr said another obvious trend that arose in the polling was the desire to see 53rd Street treated like the main street of t he community. The draft report is available online at vision53.org.

A follow-up workshop will attempt to address the questions raised by the draft report. The workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to noon May 3 at Kenwood Academy, 5015 E. Blackstone Ave., Sherr confirmed Friday.

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53rd Street meeting to feature transit talk- Herald March 5, by Kate Hawley

An expert on transit-oriented development will speak in Hyde Park next week, as part of ongoing public discussions about how to redevelop Hyde Park's 53rd Street commercial corridor. Linda Young, a researcher with the Center for Neighborhood Technology, will give the talk at the March 10 meeting of the 53rd street TIF Council. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, 5480 S. Kenwood Ave.

The goal of transit-oriented development (TOD) is to cut down on the ill effects of sprawl by reducing dependence on cars. Its best-known precept is to locate new development near mass-transit hubs. But, as Young explained, it also aims to reduce auto traffic and congestion in other ways, by calling for compact, mixed-use developments that are friendly to pedestrians and bicycles. Residents in these mixed-use buildings support the businesses in them, thereby creating vibrant street life, Young said. And residents rarely need their cars to go shopping.

TOD often requires less parking, she added, which bucks the conventional wisdom that denser development inevitably leaves traffic hassles in its wake. "Density is a term some people are afraid of because of a lot of misconceptions," Young said. She noted that density can mean high-rises surrounded by seas of parking lots; it can also mean mid-rise buildings with shops on the ground floor and residences above, surrounded by inviting sidewalks.

Hyde Park residents would do well to consider these ideas, said Irene Sherr, a local planning consultant who invited Young to speak. She pointed out that 53rd and 51st street intersect with a Metra station and a handful of bus routes.

Sherr emphasized that several sites proposed for redevelopment sit near this transit hub, including Harper Court, the larger 53rd Street commercial corridor and Village Center, the shopping center on the southwest corner of Hyde Park Boulevard and Lake Park Avenue. "All of these development opportunities that are there could be viewed through the lens of TOD," said Sherr. "It's something all of us should think about."

The Center for Neighborhood Technology is a Chicago nonprofit that has worked on a national level to build sustainable communities, including research and advocacy for TOD.

Alderman, local groups, city and regional planning agency seek input on 53rd St. May 3 2008. Following is run-up description of the May 3 Vision Workshop II. Many prominent experts gave bullet points of what they considered requisites for successful redevelopment of 53rd Street and, divided into 4 section topics, led the 108 participants, armed with cameras, in a walk-through of 53rd and presented to plenary each team's key desired principles for 53rd and its redevelopment. Description will follow, and the official report will be online. Next workshop is November 15, an exercise using the Housing Corridor Initiative block exercise. See notes on the May 3 Workshop in its own page.

Hyde Park Herald, April 16, 2008. by Kate Hawley

Participants in a May 3 workshop on the future of the 53rd Street commercial corridor will take to Hyde Park's streets, cameras in hand to document its built environment. "It might help creates kind of a portrait of53rd Street," said Irene Sherr, a local planning consultant who is one of the event's organizers. "Hopefully, it'll give people a chance to see things differently."

The evolution of the street's shopping strip is the focus of the 53rd Street Vision Workshop, to be held from 9 a.m. to noon at Kenwood Academy, 5015 S. Blackstone Ave. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.

It is the second in a series of three workshops meant to determining what kind of development the community likes, so that developers interested in building along 53rd Street can proposes projects that are likely to get local approval. "It facilitates progress, in a way," Sherr said. "It also gives city and elected officials a better way to respond, because these issues have been looked at broadly."

The workshop will begin with brief presentations from four to five experts in architecture or urban development, Sherr said. The speakers haven't yet been finalized. Breakout sessions will follow that will allow smaller groups to discuss specific issues in more depth. These groups will then take cameras out into the neighborhood, to gather visual evidence of some o the topics they've discussed.

The images, along with responses from attendees, will eventually appear online, according to Sherr. Those who have digital cameras are encouraged to brig them, and those who don't will get disposable cameras to use during the workshop, she said.

The event is the second of its kind organized by Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) in conjunction with a broad array of community groups, including the South East Chicago Commission, the 53rd Street TIF Advisory Council, the University of Chicago, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, or CMAP, and Community Counsel, Sherr's consulting firm.

At the first Vision Workshop, held Dec. 8 a Canter Middle School, 4959 S. Blackstone ave., almost 200 people used handheld devices distributed by CMAP to share their responses to a series of questions about how 53rd Street should be redeveloped.

Sherr said that certain issues surfaced again and again in people's responses: diversity, density, urban design and aesthetics-- and the accessibility of the neighborhood by car, train or on foot. "People just want more," Sherr said. "People just want an active community with lots of choices."

The purpose of the May 3 workshop is "to clarify and define the themes that emerged from Dec. 8," Sherr said.

It's also meant to lay the groundwork for a third workshop in the fall, which will use techniques developed at the Corridor Housing Initiative in Minneapolis, she said. These community workshops allowed participants to model developments with their own hands using blocks and aerial maps. Computers instantly tabulated the financial viability of their ideas.

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53rd Cornell project updates April 2008

As presented at an open neighbors meeting called by Ald. Preckwinkle April 23 at Congregation Rodfei Zedek, the building has been modified for 17 to 20 stories plus mechanical space,largely to work the economics of the fact that the building will now be rental and will include 15% affordable units. Alderman Preckwinkle was able to work out with L3 Development inclusion of 15% (not just the city-mandated 10%) affordable units- and on-site. Affordable is defined as the points based on area income and characteristics of the structure as defined in terms of "points" assigned by the city: That will determine what the rents will be. Intent is to not include or use any government subsidy or Section 8 subsidy and have the structure entirely debt equity. They intend to scatter affordable units throughout the structure, but exact mixes will depend on such factors as ratios of one- and two-bedroom units rented. Undecided is whether finishes may differ in affordable units. (Unsaid but inferable from the fact that the layout is unchanged from former plans for a condo building is that it is conceivable that some or all units could at a later date become condo.) Possible rents were speculated to be, if following current nearby rents, $1000 to $1800 a month.

At the meeting, representatives of the Coalition for Equitable Development in Hyde Park-Kenwood thanked the alderman and developer for this progress progress on affordable units and asked consideration of setting aside two-thirds of the affordable units for seniors and that units be able to accommodate the disabled. The developer noted in answer to the latter and related questions related to accessibility (and just being able to maneuver in buildings) that the entire structure must follow federal accessibility standards.

Howard Males, chair of the TIF council, noted that the project was thoroughly vetted by the TIF and its committees and was approved 2 years ago and not changed significantly enough to require reconsideration although it will be re-presented at the May 12 TIF meeting (7 pm, Neighborhood Club).

Basic features of the building, approved by the TIF Council 2 years ago according TIF chairman Howard Males, include

  • 206 residential units in an "L" shape along 53rd and part way up Cornell, 11 on 26th and 13 7th-20th
  • 15% Affordable units on site
  • 7,500 square feet of retail space on the ground floor level along 53rd and up Cornell to the lobby and parking entry
  • 246 parking spaces occupying the first 5 stories behind and above 1st floor retail and northward covering the entire site-1.19 ratio. Entry and exit remains on Cornell at the north end of the apartment tower, loading from 53rd along Canadian National
  • Rooftop garden at the 6th floor level north of the apartment tower, covering the retail-parking block. (City now mandates a dog run; building will allow pets.)
  • A mix of studio/one-bedroom (c60%) and two-bedroom apartments (c40%)

Answers to discerning questions including:

The traffic reviewer did not see an appreciable effect. A new shadow study will be be submitted.

This will be a quality, contextual masonry building. Designer is Antunovich firm, which has done much work in Hyde Park and much restoration work.

The development is intended to take advantage of proximity to transit, hopefully with some tenants not needed car spaces. No commitment could be made on access to parking by neighbors--except that a number of spaces on the second floor will be available to patrons of the retail, who will be able to use an elevator and use a passage through the building at ground level to 53rd St.

Hope is to help spark 53rd St. retail renaissance as well as install services needed by both residents and neighbors such as a pantry-like store or restaurant.

Next steps for the proposed Planned Development, which will take a minimum of a year, include hearings by the Chicago Plan Commission, Zoning Committee and Community Development Commission. Only property owners of note within 400 feet will get notices (to some) of these. Notices will be in the local papers and posting boards and online through the agendas of the agencies in the City of Chicago website. None of the referenced reviewers will consider the project before June or July 2008. After approvals, the permit process begins and full construction drawings drafted.

University fires Theater/Herald Bldg. developer, fate uncertain. May 2008

In May 2008 the University made official that it has fired its developer for the Theater/Herald buildings. Reason given was that the developer did not meet numerous agreed upon deadlines and standards or deliver retail tenants. (Details were not given and persons with alleged inside information have given differing versions-- no satisfactory tenants were found/signed or the University felt the prospective tenants were not upscale enough.)

University spokespersons told meetings and media they will take time to consider course of action and that bundling with the Harper Court RFP is a possibility but not first choice. (Problems would include non-contiguity--a requirement for city RFP planned developments) unless added was property east of Harper (viable transit-linked Starbucks ...Mellow Yellow ...Valois-- or north on Harper--purchase believed stymied on latter; also loss of time and change of Harper Area RFP, need for new appraisals et al. Pointed to in any case is demolition, a prospect disapproved by some parties for this property, part of which is Orange-rated.

Herald article, May 21, 2008: University of Chicago fires Harper Theater developers. By Sam Cholke

The University of Chicago confirmed Friday that Brinshore Development and Baum Realty have been terminated s the developers for Harper Theater. Susan Campbell, associate vice president for Community Affairs, said the university made commitments to the community about the project at 53rd sTreet Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District Advisory Council meetings that the developers were having difficulty honoring.

The University is still committed to creating a mixed-use retail space at the site, but are going to go back at this pont an look at all of the options, Campbell said.

When asked if the Harper Theater property would be packaged with the recently acquired Harper Court and adjoining city lot properties, Campbell said it was"one possibility, but not a leading option." "We have been disappointed that the development team hasn't met with deadlines and specifications they have ascribed to," Campbell said May 12 at the 53rd Street TIF Advisory Council meeting.

The university will go back to the community soon to outline where things stand with the Harper Theater property and what options are available moving forward, Campbell said.

A representative from Brinshore Development and Baum Realty was not available to comment as of press time.

 

Panel on Hyde Park Development March 4 2008 held on campus- report

The March 4 heavily-attended panel and discussion sponsored by Southside Solidarity Network was not part of the series of visioning workshops, for 53rd Street and beyond or the Harper Court studies and surveys, but fit into the growing discussion of development goals and prospects for Hyde Park. While the following report could no be comprehensive, it covered most of the bases and perspectives.

Chicago Maroon, March 7, 2008. By Ella Christoph

Community leaders and University administrators gathered Tuesday to discuss plans for bringing appealing retail options to Hyde Park at a panel discussion entitled "Making Hyde Park: Development in Our Community," hosted by Southside Solidarity Network.

Wallace Goode, associate dean of students and head of the University Community Service Center, moderated the event, which was well-attended by a diverse audience of over 100 long-time residents of the neighborhood as well as University students. The seven panelists represented the University, the Hyde Park Historical Society,...Community Counsel, the Romero Cook Design Studio, the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, the Hyde Park Coalition for Equitable Community Development, and the 53rd Street Tax [Financing District].

Most panelists endorsed increasing Hyde Park's population density and improving basic retail options while continuing to develop the neighborhood's sense of community.

Aaron Cook, owner of local urban planning firm Romero Cook Design Studio, suggested a catalyst for foot traffic such as an Apple store or a Gap. However, one University graduate student said that the Gap is a nationwide chain that would not contribute to the Hyde Park community-oriented environment. George Rumsey, president of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, echoes the student's concern. "We try to make it so chichi an so upscale and neat, it loses all character."

Students and Hyde Park residents are looking for a mixture of high- and low-end retail, said Susan Campbell, associate vice president of the Office of Community and Government Affairs at the University, citing polls conducted by the University through telephone and e-mail interviews.

One attendee complained about the University's tendency to provide resources for students on campus, deterring them from exploring the neighborhood. "I think the University does a really lousy job of promoting Hyde Park at the University," Rumsey said. "There's no entertainment in this place besides browsing the bookstores," he said. The crowd laughed as Campbell added that students often cite the basement of the Reg as their favorite place to hang out.

Irene Sherr, [of] Community Counsel and landscape and urban planner, said it is often difficult to convince retailers that there is retail potential in Hyde Park. Rumsey was more optimistic about the future of business diversification in the neighborhood. "The businesses that succeed in Hyde Park appeal across the races," Rumsey said.

Panelist [Pat] Wilcoxen, a board member of the Hyde Park Coalition for Equitable Community Development, expressed concern that increasing retail options would drive up housing prices for current residents. She also voiced concerns about senior housing and said that many seniors may no longer be able to afford rent if Hyde Park undergoes significant development. "I'm not afraid of us losing our racial diversity. I am afraid of us losing our economic diversity," Rumsey said.

In order to counter rising residential rates, Sherr said, developers could use TIF fund incentives, which require keeping at least 20 percent of housing affordable to low income residents. [ed- not exactly what Sherr said or meant.] More concerns about housing for low-income residents will be addressed at a University-sponsored panel discussion on Progressive Urban Financing on Thursday at 5 p.m. in Stuart 101.

Making Hyde Park

Chicago Weekly News, March 13, 2008. By Robin Peterson

Development in Hyde Park has been a contentious issue since the urban renewal of the 1950s, and judging by the crowd at the panel discussion "Making Hyde Park: Development in Our Community," it's as hot a topic as ever. Over one hundred students and Hyde Park residents crowded into an undersized room in Ida Noyes on Tuesday, March 4, to listen as a diverse group of panelists put forward their visions for the future of Hyde Park. It was an occasion for "conversation, not debate," as moderator and University Community Service Center director Wallace Goode emphasized, but that didn't mean voices were not raised as the panelists argued about issues like retail, density, architecture, and t he University's involvement in development.

The eight-member panel, which was organized by the southside Solidarity Network, included both those with an interest in preserving Hyde Park's past and current diversity and those focused on economic development. The Hyde Park Historical Society, the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference (HPKCC), the University, the Hyde Park Art Center, and the 53rd Street Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district were among those represented. While it would be impossible to divide them neatly into two camps, since many have overlapping interests and concerns, the organizations themselves seem to have been disconnected from opposing viewpoints. "These enclaves are voicing their opinions in vacuums," said Susan Campbell of the University's Office of Community Affairs. "We need to make sure everyone has a say if we want to maintain diversity."

The discussion allowed a wide range of pinions to be expressed, many in conflict but some in general agreement. The establishment of a new retail corridor on 53rd street is a top priority for several of the panelists, though the type of retail to solicit remains a matter of dispute. Architect Aaron Cook suggested the Gap, eliciting a murmur of disapproval from the audience. Most panelists seemed to favor a healthy mix of local and national, cheap an high-end establishments, but a number of audience members voiced fears that Hyde Park could lose its diverse, eclectic character if it become the site of to many upscale chains.

Most panelists also agreed on the need for increased residential density, which allows for greater sustainability in terms of both businesses and the environment. As Irene Sherr of Community Counsel explained, "In the '60s, Hyde Park had 65,000 residents. Now it has 44,000." She argued that taller buildings would allow for a larger population. which would translate into a larger market and draw more businesses into the area. But as several other panelists pointed out, Hyde Park's problem may not be the size of its market so much as its ability to exploit it: currently, many students chose to spend their money elsewhere in the city. Perhaps this is because, as HPKCC president George Rumsey remarked, "There's no entertainment here beyond browsing the bookstore." Even University of Chicago students need something more than that--just as long as the bookstores don't all become borders. Top


U of C students participate in panel discussion

Hyde Park Herald, March 12, 2008. By Sam Cholke

A standing-room-only crowd of University of Chicago students and community members packed the Ida Noyes East Lounge, 1212 E. 59th St., March 4 for a panel discussion on the future of development in Hyde Park.

This forum is meant to be an introduction to the long, complicated questions of development in Hyde Park, said Hannah Jacoby, an organizer with the Southside Solidarity Network, a student group at the university focusing on encouraging dialogue between faculty, students, developers and neighborhood residents.

Wallace Goode Jr.... opened the discussion asking the eight panelists to define the No. 1 priority for development in Hyde Park. "It's really clear," said Chuck Thurow, a member of the 53rd Street TIF advisory council and executive director of the Hyde Park Art Center. "We need a strong retail corridor going down Lake Park Street." "Lake Park is just one important component," said Susan Campbell, associate vice president for community affairs at the university. Additional retail development of 53rd Street is also needed, she said.

The panel rehashed a debate common to discussions of development in Hyde Park: Do you use an increased population to attract new businesses or vice versa? "Building residential will help draw retail," said Irene Sherr, founder of Community Counsel, a community-development consulting firm based in Hyde Park. A lot of retailers don't know there's a market in Hyde Park, or on the South Side in general, said Sherr. "Speaking to retailers, they say: No, you've go to have rooftops there before we bring a store," Campbell said.

When Goode solicited from the panel what the role of the university should be in future development, the panel was at its most divergent. "I think the university should sell its commercial real estate," said Jack Spicer, a preservationist with the Hyde Park Historical Society. It's time to let the free market act, he said.

"The university isn't opposed to letting the free market do its thing," Campbell said, adding that the university's role is to shepherd the market along.

The panelists spoke for about an hour before opening the floor to questions from the audience. Several university students expressed concern that there was conflict in trying to create "a sense of place" while also trying to court national retailers. "Retail in this country has just changed enormously. You want a mix of national and local retailers," Sherr said.

George Rumsey, president of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, made it a point to note that new development in Hyde Park would be servicing more that the neighborhood by meeting retail demands left unfulfilled across a swathe of the South side. "Hyde Park is not just Hyde Park anymore," Rumsey said. "There's really a mindset that Hyde Park is an island, and you don't get off the island unless you get on the boat to the North Side," he said. Hyde Park is not aware of the changes going on outside of the neighborhood, he said.

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HPKCC Development, Preservation and Zoning Committee and 53rd Street Future Steering Committee held a planning session for the Feb. 26 2008 meeting was held on February 4. Draft of an online Priorities Survey was vetted and continues to be. The survey will go live in the next few weeks.

Harper Court survey plans near completion

Hyde Park Herald, February 13, 2008. By Sam Cholke

[Parts of this were out of date when printed as survey launch and end date were pushed back some and final refinements, introduction etc were finalized. Also, the survey is a joint product with the 53rd St. TIF Advisory Council.]

The Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference (HP-KCC) finalized questions for an online survey soliciting community input on Harper Court this week. "This will be our final fact-finding effort to find out what the community would like to see at Harper Court," said George Rumsey, president of HP-KCC.

The survey will be available online in coming weeks and will be distributed through various channels throughout the community. HP-KCC members have been compiling polls and reports on the Harper Court Shopping complex, 521 S. harper Ave, in anticipation of a request for proposals or a request for qualifications form developers. This group will submit considerations they want included in any RFP or $FQ [to] the 53rd Street Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District advisory council.

"We know no [developer] is going to match every one of these needs," Rumsey said. "The purpose of this is to come to a conclusion of things the community needs."

During the Feb. 4 meeting, HP-KCC members hashed out phrasing and general completeness before handing it off to HP-KCC member Vicki Suchovsky's daughter, a doctoral student in social work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, to administer.

"When you put ["Carry Forward the Original Purpose of Harper Court" as No. 2, it starts framing your mind for the next questions," said Fabio Grego, an architect with Fabio Grego and Associates. Rumsey predicted that any surprise results in the survey would likely relate to that question, saying he didn't think many people were interested in preserving the court's original intent of supported artisans and small businesses.

The survey was made available to the community at large on Sunday and will be collected and compiled by March 3. The survey draws on community desires that have been documented repeatedly, most recently Dec. 8 53rd street Vision Workshop. The form asks participants to rank items such as "space for impromptu gatherings," "should become a 'destination," and others on a scale of one to five, from not important to very important.

"A lot of businesses want Harper Court to be a draw," said Lenora Austin, executive director of the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce. People want a new Harper Court to have higher visibility to people who aren't already familiar with it, she said. "I can't tell you how many times I've been on the phone directing people [to Harper Court]. Austin said.

HPK-CC members and residents at the meeting agreed that a redeveloped Harper Court would need to draw on people Court would need to draw on people from outside the neighborhood if it's to succeed, but will now put the question to the community at large.

"If it's going to succeed, it needs to be a destination point," Rumsey said. "I think 'destination point' is open to interpretation. The interpretation of destination point elicited the most reaction during the meeting. "What I like about Hyde Park is we don't have a lot of chain stores," said Grego. Grego said he is worried that a redeveloped Harper Court might draw those chain stores. "If we rely on [people from the North side of Chicago], it's probably going to fail," said Robin Kaufman.

Rumsey reiterated that the suggestions HP-KCC will submit to the TIF council are wishes and basic guide lines for considerations, and not an attempt to limit specific businesses coming into the neighborhood. Rumsey said the only person who has the power to dictate what businesses do or do not come into the neighborhood is Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th). Rumsey suggested that concerns pertaining to the appeal of or aversion to chain stores are best directed to t he alderman, and HP-KCC has no authority to make andy decision about vendors.

The last item on the survey, "Finalists should present possible plans for community input and reaction," attempts to address and create an outlet for community members' concerns about what store owners a redeveloped Harper Court would attract, Rumsey said.

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The new Harper Court? Preliminary design includes mixed use, high density, six-story anchor. Hyde Park Herald Feb. 20 2008. By Kate Hawley.

Graphic: A rendering of the south elevation of a proposed six-story anchor for Harper Court, designed by planer Aaron Cook. The white spaces to the left and right represent existing buildings.

The low-slung, angular structures that comprise Harper Court mall would be replaced with a cluster of four- to six-story masonry buildings that mirror Chicago's traditional architecture -- if one group's vision becomes a reality.

About 20 people gathered on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, 5480 S. Kenwood Ave, to view designs created by aaron Cook, a planner with Romero Cook Design Studio. The meeting was sponsored by a working group of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference's Development Committee, one of several local groups looking at ways to rethink Harper Court, located on ?South Harper Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets.

The mall, built in 1965 as a non-profit to support local artisans, is slated for redevelopment. Cook's plans are purely hypothetical at this stage, a way to get the community talking about what kind of development might best serve Harper Court, said Jack Spicer, a member of the working group.

A developer has yet to be chosen for Harper Court. The mall's owner, the Harper Court Arts Council, will along with the city seek proposals from developers, according to Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th). That process was set to begin in late March, but has since been pushed back to an undetermined time, Preckwinkle said.

A community forum on how the proposal process woks will be held Feb. 26 at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club. That meeting is sponsored by the Neighborhood and Business Environment Committee of the 53rd Street TIF Council and the development Committee of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference.

In the meantime, the working group that met Feb. 13 is hoping to drum up support for its vision of Harper Court. Cook's plans call for keeping open courtyard space but bringing it up to grade (the existing courtyard is sunken).

Five new mixed-use buildings would have retail on the ground floor and residences , office space, civic space (for community meetings and related uses) and possibly artist workspaces above, Cook said.

Four of the buildings would be between four and five stories, and one of them would be six stories, heights Cook said are intended to match the existing rooflines on 53rd Street.

The look is meant to mirror Hyde Park's stock of brick buildings, with concrete and limestone accents, Cook said. He pointed out that several of the facades he designed were variegated to make them look like a row of smaller buildings.

In the coming weeks, the working group will aim to "shop around" Cook's designs, making them widely available to the community, Spicer said. Cook has posted them online at his firm's website, romerocook.com.

Cook's designs met with little resistance from the working group . Many who attended t he meeting spoke approvingly of their "European" feel, with shops surrounding an open courtyard . Others lauded their density. "You've shown Harper Court fully loaded," said Fabio Grego, an architect with Fabio Grego and Associates. Cook acknowledged that for his plans to succeed, the surrounding areas would also need to get denser and busier. "If we built this tomorrow, it probably wouldn't be successful." he said. "This can't stand on its own. It needs density."

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At the January 14 TIF Advisory Council meeting, in addition to a full report on results from te December 8 Workshop attended by nearly 200 Alderman Preckwinkle discussed next workshop(s)- theme-based and broader, and looking at what results were wanted area-wide and maybe later go to specific sites. Also announced was that HPKCC would work with the TIF Business Environment Committee to develop an open RFP process for Harper Court and the City lot.

January 10. Harper Court Future subgroup of HPKCC Development Committee's 53rd process ad hoc group plus leaders from TIF, Community Counsel's Irene Sherr, others met to report on smaller discussions they hope will lead to a broad, professionally facilitated process. The small group will meet again, there will be major announcements at the TIF (including a slowing of process to allow this to to be set up), with findings at the Jan. 10 + HPKCC Development Committee January 23 meetings to move the process, including inclusion, forward.

The TIF Bus. & Envir. committee and HPKCC Development committee met January 23, with representatives from many local organizations including Harper Court Arts Council to continue the planning process. There will be a community workshop forum on February 26 on Harper Court and guidelines for the RFP process, and planning will continue for a broad-issues, broad-territory planning follow up to Dec. 8, to be held in the spring.

January 14 TIF Advisory Council meeting- in TIF AC Meetings page.

[linked] please find the keypad polling results from the December 8th workshop. Alderman Preckwinkle and the SECC and the Workshop Planning Committee will work with CMAP to develop a draft report. The SECC is developing a website to serve as a conduit for information regarding the December 8th workshop and related issues. It is currently online, but still a work in progress. In http://www.vision53.org.

South Side Solidarity Network held a forum March 4 on Making Hyde Park: Development.... before a packed audience of over 100 students and residents. Panelists included Hyde Park leaders including Susan Campbell, George Rumsey, Irene Sherr, Pat Wilcoxen, Chuck Thurow, Jack Spicer and others. Both divergence and wide consensus were present, and the audience brought in most other related topics and needs.

March 5 renderings of architect Aaron Cook's renderings of Harper Court possibilities, including video walk through, were shown and elicited lots of thought. A larger showing of this and other views of possibilities will be shown April 9, Wednesday, 7 pm at the Neighborhood Club.

A List of studies and reports on the future of 53rd street since 1998

(one earlier) (in progress, underlined are direct links in the hydepark.org website). By Gary Ossewaarde. Thanks to Irene Sherr for start. December 2007

Development Projects

RFP for 53rd & Harper –

Planning Initiatives:

53rd Street Committee- 1990-92- multi organizational, convened by SECC (files in HPKCC,Regenstein)

Ad Hoc Committee on Metra Stations- 1990 or earlier through about 2000, convened by SECC (files with SECC?)

Ad Hoc Committee for 53rd Street- 1992-1994 culminating in report recommending a Special Assessment District, October 1994 prior to November 1 hearing. Fiscal agent HPKCC, files at HPKCC, Regenstein, and elsewhere?

A Vision for the Hyde Park Retail District, March 2000 – City of Chicago, Skidmore Owings and Merrill;
Barton – Aschman and AREA (parking study)

TIF Designation Report – S. B . Friedman, 1999/2000?

Walkable Communities Workshop - 2001

Lake Park Corridor Improvement Project, CDOT, Metra, IDOT, University of Chicago : 2003 – present

Middle School Plan for Hyde Park

Nichols Park Framework Plan- Chicago Park District and Nichols Park Advisory Council 2006. See also Nichols Park Planning, Nichols Park Gym/Murray Addition and Garden Fair Plan.

Spruce Park Framework Plan- Chicago Park District and Spruce Park Advisory Council 2006. Synopsis

Transportation Enhancement (Parking Improvements) District Recommendations- TIF Advisory Council Parking Committee with assistance of Chicago Planning, Revenue and other departments, nonprofit planning organizations, Community Counsel

2004 City of Chicago Zoning Ordinance and Principles - City website. Some information including on forums on rezoning, and mostly still relevant maps in hydepark.org.

Business and Improvement/Enhancement programs and studies

CleanSlate abstracted documents, 2006-07- CARA

Hanging Basket Program- TIF Advisory Council, SECC, Chamber of Commerce

TIF Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF)- City of Chicago

(Forthcoming) University of Chicago commissioned Retail need and preferences studies.

Quad Cities- LISC Business Street and Market-Area surveys.

Community Forums and Councils

(Ongoing since 2000:) 53rd Street Tax Increment Financing District Advisory Council- Minutes and Reports, annual reports (Chicago Department of Planning), TIFormation. Minutes and formal reports: Check SECC or their website http://www.hydeparkchicago.org for a complete series. Early minutes and reports, July 2006, and more recent minutes.

Future of 53rd Street- Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, Spring 2002. Paper only in HPKCC files?

Zoning Reform- HPKCC 2003

What's Right and What's Wrong with Hyde Park? - HPKCC October 19 2005

Three meetings and Workshops on the Future of Harper Court-with proposed principles for RFP and submitted to the alderman, city, Harper Court Arts Council- HPKCC March-May 2006 (In June 2006 Reporter. See hydepark.org Navigator to studies, documents, views including

Harper Court Arts Council draft guiding principles for RFP 2006

53rd Street Vision Workshop, December 8, 2007. 4th Ward Office, South East Chicago Commission, Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce, Hyde Park Interfaith Open Communities, Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, University of Chicago, City of Chicago Department of Planning, Chicago Metropolitan Area Planning Agency, others. Initial commentary and reports (in this page). Formal reports pending.

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Summary Document on Harper Court Priorities

Compiled by Trish Morse, HPKCC Secretary, as a fulfillment of request of Alderman Preckwinkle for the TIF committee and HPKCC to compile/prepare community input into Guidelines for a Harper Court RFP for March 2008. Morse used the documents listed above in preparing her report, submitted to Harper Court Future Steering Committee February 4, 2008. The headings and organization wee suggested by Harper Court Arts council in its June 2006 document.
The following will also be in its own page.

The 53rd Street Future Steering Committee,
Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference Development Committee
RFP guidelines task force: Gary Ossewaarde (chair), Trish Morse, Charles Newsome

*Harper Court*: Draft Guidelines for RFP and Possible Points for Priority Survey
By Patricia Morse - February 4, 2008

*Gateway to 53rd Street Business District*
1. Pedestrian friendly on Lake Park, 53rd, and Harper Avenue to welcome into the space
2. Flexible design for changing needs
3. Relate to the 53rd Street streetscape—modern design with sensitivity to the three-story brick buildings and redone Hyde Park Bank building as its immediate neighbors.
4. Destination –needs dramatic design, signage
5. ADA accessibility
6. Environmentally friendly (e.g., rooftop garden, green technology, trees

*Mixed Use Development*
7. Recreational
a. Opportunities for teenagers (e.g., skateboard park)
8. Shopping
a. Clothing
b. Specialty stores
c. Stores that serve the arts (e.g., sewing, crafts, art supplies, fiber art)
d. Art galleries
e. Major retail
9. Nightlife
a. Cinema
b. Theatre/performance space
c. Spaces for poetry readings, smaller interactive performances
d. Music
10. Dining
a. Sidewalk café
b. Bars
c. "Destination" dining
11. Office space
a. Small businesses and professionals
b. Space for services (e.g., veterinarian)
12. Residential (e.g., Upper story residential)

*Public Space for Street Level Activity*
13. Large public space (e.g., for Farmers' Market, Art Festivals, Concerts)
14. Spaces for impromptu gatherings (chess tables)
15. Landscaping—trees, seating, flowers
16. Well-lit ambiance at night

*Parking*
17. Multilevel parking garage to serve it and the Hyde Park business district
18. Available day and night
19. Unobtrusive parking at the back of the development or underground
20. Unobtrusive truck delivery (along 52nd?)

*Carry Forward the Original Purpose of Harper Court*
21. Space for small businesses, artisans, and cooperative art galleries
22. Provide subsidies/"affordable" rents to nurture local artisans
23. Space for interactive entertainment (e.g., music, poetry, art)

*Developer Must Present Development Plans for Public Comment*

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In other news affecting 53rd Street,

New on the street: CHANT restaurant, relocated Kilamanjaro. Watch for Jerry Kleiner's restaurant on the north edge of Harper Court- now open.

BP Connect/Wild Bean Cafe and McDonald 's and Borders were the "first fruits" of new development in the TIF district. The increment of taxes they bring matter toward being able to fund a parking garage as well as having a steady rate of commercial stock renewal. Little has actually been developed since these noted developments, although the Theater bldg. project starts spring 2008.

About the U of C Retail Survey

From minutes of the November 2007 TIF meeting: University od Chicago 2007 Retail Market study: Susan campbell, of UC, presented the results of a retail survey conducted by the University. 12,000 of t he University's students were surveyed, with a 12% response rate, as well as 300 area residents in a phone survey. Among items discussed were- the core area boundaries (47th Street to the Woodlawn neighborhood, and from Washington Park to the Lakefront). The survey results also reported on an expanded boundary, called a Trade area, defined by 31st to 87th Streets, and from the Dan Ryan Expressway (I 90-94) to the Lakefront, and a subset, defined by Pershing Rd. to 67th street, and from King Drive to the Lakefront. She spoke to the point that these areas are what retailers look at when determining store location,s as well as population and income levels within these boundaries. The area also The areas also represent drive times to locations, expressed in time periods up to 15 minutes. she commented that the results were not as strong as retailers usually like to see when making decisions to locate stores within the trade area.

From Gary Ossewaarde's take on remarks at the meeting: Susan Campbell, UC assistant vice president, discussed results of a retail needs and potential study of the larger area of draw and a neighborhood survey. Demographics shown on maps, spread out nature of the business corridors, lack of big spaces and uneven to sparse offerings are among the difficulties to attracting new retail. Parking was said not to be a respondent concern. Shoppers complaints were about the look and feel, lack of selection and variety and of basics as well as entertainment. Facilities were considered outdated and not comporting to modern size requirements and business plans that renew the look every five years. It appears we need to stress advantages business site searches don't look at, such as the students, rebuild our ability to supply basics, and re grow population with spendable income. Objections were made this that leaves out the large number in Hyde Park and around that have some money to spend if the selection were there but cannot support or afford high end retailers, and that there would have to be lots of new people (as Campbell said) when we are landlocked by the Lake and Washington Park and Jackson Park.

More: TIF home, TIF advisory council meetings, Development, Business Climate and happenings, Harper Court home, Tracking Community Trends.

Harper Theater

Hyde Park Theatre. Vacation was complete and demolition and reconstruction were expected to start spring 2008 for new shops, a restaurant and more. The University's process of request for proposals and community review input were praised as excellent. Developers are Brinshore and Baum

Are remarks and position in news publications a hindrance to people coming together to find new ways forward and new planning? One example, Maroon January 11 2008.

In January the Chicago Maroon continued to give a militant take on the Co-Op's closure, saying in articles and especially editorials that the Co-op was a bad store that was a bulwark of community "anti-corporate" and anti development stances, and it's demise not only is a harbinger of better retail so students wont have to travel but first step in remaking the whole neighborhood. Editorial phrases included "shareholders delivered a blow to protectionism's stranglehold on Hyde Park." "This is a positive step but it should be only the first of many in a new era of Hyde Park Development." "Unfortunately, local activists have long opposed such economic development" and promote an "anti-corporate mentality that has stalled Hyde Park."

The Two Hyde Parks: The battle for the neighborhood's soul

[This article points to a divide in perceptions about the neighborhood's character and needs and how they affect retail development, applying the Cultural Amenities Project/Scenes Theory studies pursued by Prof. Rothfield at U of C that charts the character of neighborhoods by their characteristics. In some ways, the division is so heated the sides cannot decide whether the other is "conservative" or "radicalized," "the elitists/establishment" or "insurgents." Majorities in each side can agree on most--but not certain key--specific proposed changes yet so many in each camp view the other as disruptive enemies of them and of the good of the neighborhood. Often ignored, the article points out, is what the neighborhood now ("already") has. PS, the division is in this editor's perception not quite as generational as the article seems to say, knowing many of different ages on the two or three sides and since many of those leading the change charge are near or in retirement. Nor is it wholly town-gown: nearly all on both sides have affiliations and very often affections for the University regardless of what they feel about what the University does or seeks. Perhaps some of this blurring comes precisely because, as the author points out, consumption constellations have taken their place alongside class, race, gender, workplace, religion, ethnicity, and shared culture or experience as markers of cultural alignment. The article gives caution alike to those who want Hyde Park a hip "destination" or stay (stolid-residential-unique or boring, you choose) and to the University that feels the need to make the neighborhood attractive to students, faculty and their families and donors-investors alike. GMO]

Chicago Weekly News, January 24, 2008. By John Thompson:

One of the most conservative neighborhoods in Chicago is in the midst of an insurgency. Hyde Park, traditionally the province of the University of Chicago, bookstores, and a surprisingly long-sustained DIY culture, has recently heard an ever-louder contingent calling for "commercial development" of the storied South Side corridor. The different parties interest the observer not so much because of their disparate stories (and they are surpassingly polarized), but for the ferocious articulation of their views. The recent storm of controversy surrounding the closing of the Co-op Market and, to a lesser extent, the fate of the old Doctors Hospital, has served as the most prominent expression of a heretofore latent tension between a younger generation of U of C affiliates and established residents. The traditionalists, represented by organizations such as the Hyde Park Historical Society and the Hyde Park Herald, are painted as isolationist and unimaginative by their opponent in advocating a particular kind of Hyde Park development that calls for intense community soul-searching. Meanwhile, younger, impatiently forward-looking voices exemplified by Chicago Maroon columnist Alec Brandon and witty, acid-tongued blog Hyde Park Progress call for swift reform and commercial development, all the time being derided by established residents for being too young, and therefore too fleetingly engaged, to be trusted. All the while, the elephant in the neighborhood, the University of Chicago, casts its shadow over these camps--the two Hyde Parks.

Though the volatile critical melange in Hyde Park is the raison d'etre for this essay, it is not my intention to parse the various strings of thought that attend each side. After all, both the establishment and the insurgents hold the integrity of Hyde Park in great esteem, and both wish to make the neighborhood an even better place to live. They differ on how to accomplish the latter goal. What gets lost in discussion, however is t he thoughtful consideration of hat Hyde Park already has.

The Cultural Amenities Project (CAP) at the University of Chicago has recently engaged in controversial research that seeks to document "scenes," or constellations of related cultural and consumer amenities in urban spaces. the study is not least controversial because of its methods, which attempt to document qualitative characteristics of urban amenities in quantitative terms. Regardless, the forthcoming work provides an exceptional tool for analyzing modern urban experience by recognizing that in post-industrial cities, residents' experiences are not organized simply by shared relations to the means of production, per Marxist doctrine, but by shared forms of consumption. Put simply, a "scene" is space "within which different kinds and aspects of consumption are given symbolic meaning." Whereas a neighborhood traditionally structures urban experience as a space of residence, with meaning generated by neighborly or kinship ties, and a manufacturing or corporate district[] structure[s] experience as a space of production, with meaning generated by workplace relations and forms of production, a scene structures urban experience as a space of consumption, where meaning is generated by forms of consumption held in common. Different forms of consumption structure individual and group experiences of urban space. For example, the idea of an "Asian restaurant scene" recognizes the determinations made b an exotic locale offering foreign cuisine on experiencing city or local life, rather than by families, neighborhoods, or workplaces. Scene theory's most practical application lies in its ability to analyze the role of culture in urban development by understanding the values of a community through what it consumes. Such implications come with the groundbreaking insight that traditional social markers like class, race, and gender are no longer the prime determinants of cultural alignment.

Results form this research can turn head. The CAP's reach is national. Compiling statistics on the available commercial amenities from 40,000 ZIP codes and then assigning varying qualitative scores to each amenity, the researchers have been able to document, however crudely, the traits that make a "scene" locally and culturally specific, based on categories and subcategories that account for the kind of authority, legitimacy, and self-presentation different amenities provide.

At the theoretical level, "scenes theory" offers an insight that both sides in the Hyde Park development debate can benefit from, namely that commercial amenities do not arise like dei ex machina but in relation to a community's shared interests and values. In other words, Hyde Park supports amenities that have a Hyde Park character. On a practical level, the CAP's documentation of neighborhood amenities confirms what we already suspect about Hyde Park's values--its neighborly, utilitarian, egalitarian mien--and indicates the institutions the neighborhood is likely to support. It's difficult to imagine something transgressive and expressive, like a punk rock cafe, making it in Hyde Park.

For the forward-looking camp that would like to see Hyde Park become a hip 'hood a la Wicker Park, the new research shows that such a transformation is likely impossible; as University of Chicago Professor Larry Rothfield told Newcity, "For Hyde Park to look like Wicker Park it'd have to turn itself inside out." Most importantly, scenes theory demonstrates, perhaps to the chagrin of everybody and not just to the vocal young crowd, that if Hyde Park is boring it's because, well, the people here are boring--residents and students alike. For the University of Chicago, an establishment burdened with the impossible onus of balancing neighborhood and institutional interests, scene theory means that the school cannot outrun its own shadow. The conservatism evinced by the University's leading intellectual lights and manifested in those classy Gothic quads is infectious, and it can't be conveniently shed in the University's attempts to make Hyde Park a cool place to live.

Finally, Hyde Park's scene might best be understood as the hybridized confluence of competing interests, not unlike the best average outcome that benefits all participants in a free market scenario. Commercial amenities in Hyde Park may not capture the ideal for either the establishment or the young, progressive crowd, but they appeal enough to both camps to make those amenities viable. Hence we have the Checkerboard lounge, which doubles as a music club and a traditional landmark, though not playing the most cutting edge music for the undergraduate hipsters and not completely recreating the authentic urban grit of the original Bronzeville haunt.

The twin pulls of wanting to be hip and wanting to remain "Hyde Park" might best be exemplified in Jerry Kleiner's restaurant dilemma, not the Co-op controversy or the debate about the Doctors Hospital. Kleiner, considered to be a miracle-working restaurateur, was set to open his newest restaurant in Harper Court over a year ago, but the opening has been delayed because--of all reasons--Kleiner can't find a name for the place that the entire community will like. As he told Chicago Magazine : "If al goes well, it'll open the first week in March. But we still don't have a name. I'm getting the community involved, and everybody's got names. I've heard thousands. They are all over the place. One guy says Black Cat; another guy says you can't do black. Other suggestions are too white-sounding. What's wrong with the name Hyde Park Grill? It's in London: It's in New York. It's not hip enough for them. If someone comes up with an incredible name--something that feeds the needs of a diverse community--I'll buy them an incredible meal with champagne at Room 21." Even labels for commercial amenities are sticking points for Hyde Parkers, demonstrating the extent to which different people think the neighborhood and its institutions should represent different things. Then there are those who, like me, just want the damn place to open. Fine dining never hurt anyone.

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53rd Street planning and visioning, started by fits in the early 1990s, receives a new push at 53rd Street Vision Workshop December 8.

The call. Release after the workshop by Irene Sherr. Summary. From December 2007 Conference Reporter. More background. Coverage and letters/emails/blogs.

Planning continues for step 2 (step 1 was the Dec.8 Visioning Workshop): Feb. 26 community forum on Harper Court guidelines.
Herald report on collaborative movement toward planning

Hyde Park Herald January 23 2008, by Sam Cholke

A dozen members of the Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference (HP-KCC) Zoning and Development Committee met Jan. 10 to hash out plans for how the group would be involved in the future development at Harper Court, 5211 S. harper Ave.

"Harper Court has been a mangled mess," said George Rumsey, president of the HP-KCC. "It needs to be Apache in a reasonable way so that it's not more of a mess." Rumsey and the other member of HPKCC stated a desire to be involved in the process of developing the site as one voice of the community. "It always feels like something will happen tomorrow," said Jack Spicer, who added that Hyde Parkers want to be involved before something happens to ensure it benefits the community.

The members of the HPKCC agreed what a community workshop similar to the Dec. 8 53rd street vision Workshop would be a sensible way to involve the many disparate voices of Hyde Park, assuming that the workshop accurately represented the many groups in the neighborhood. The group expressed concern that if the forum were not representative of most it would not be effective.

"Some people will not come no matter how much we invite them," said Aaron Cook, a partner at Romero Cook Design Studio..."Will the plan hold any weight?" "People will look at it--that has weight," said Church Thurow, a council member on the 53d Street TIF Advisory Council. But the outcome of the workshop would not hold any legal weight, said Thurow.

"We need to involve the community before there is a negative reaction to a proposal," Pat wilcoxen said. "So far, the African American community has not been represented well."

The group repeatedly came back to the idea of inclusiveness. They said they did not want to move forward endorsing any plan unless a broad swathe of the community had had the chance to weigh in on it.

Irene sherr, a community consultant and organizer for the 53rd Street Vision Workshop, said that local officials involved in planning the future of Harper Court have been very receptive to community input, from her experience. She said the Dec. 8 workshop was received very positively and future workshop would likely be received in an equally positive manner. Sherr said t hat the last workshop produced firm data that many people in the community want the same sorts of businesses and opportunities in the neighborhood.

At the end of the night, Sherr and the members of HPKCC agreed to work together in planning future community workshops. Top

Coverage of the January 23 53rd/Harper Court Future Steering Committee/HPKCC Development Committee meeting

Hyde Park Herald, January 30, 2008. By Sam Cholke

HP-KCC moving on Harper Court planning: Organizing forum, "hands-on" design workshops

The Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference (HP-K CC) decided Jan. 23 to draft suggestions for any request for proposal (RFP) involving the redevelopment of Harper Court, 5211 S. Harper Ave., as well as sketching out some ideas of what a redeveloped harper Court might look like.

"An RFP is simply suggestions [for development]. You're not committed to anything," said George Rumsey, president of HP-K CC. "Our role is to come up with things we feel need to be in an RFP that can be reasonably met."

Rumsey said suggestions submitted to the 53rd Street TIF Advisory Council need to establish minimums for an RFP, not minimums.

"Harper Court can't satisfy everything we desire," said Pat Wilcoxen, HP-K CC member and program director for Interfaith Open Communities.

The conference decided to distill the current guidelines for Harper Court drafted by various community groups over recent years into a single working document for the conference to start from. The HP-K CC RFP suggestions will be largely based on the Harper Court Arts Council's "Guiding Principles to be Incorporated into RFP" draft from July 10, 2006, and the data compiled from the Dec. 8 53rd street Vision Workshop. [Ed.- The latter said very little on Harper Court-- the committee is using the suggestions from the HPKCC 2006 Harper Court Workshops, similar to what was said about 53rd Dec. 8. --but final decision will be made by the large steering committee Feb. 4. Gary Ossewaarde.]

"No one has to pay attention to anything we say," Rumsey said. "We want to have viable advice." Suggestions for guiding an RFP are general and don't try to pin a development down to a specific number of stories or tenants, Rumsey said.

"Development should be of a size and configuration that complements the Hyde Park business streetscape, and is pedestrian friendly," reads the Arts Council's 2006 draft guidelines.

Rumsey said the HP-K CC guidelines for a Harper Court RFP should be close to finalized at the next meeting, Feb. 26, so they can be submitted to the TIF advisory council at their March 10 meeting.

Jack Spicer, a member of the Hyde Park Historical Society, and Aaron Cook, a planner with Romero Cook Design Studio, will be working with interested community members to draft an architectural rendering of what Harper Court could look like. "Visualization is good," Rumsey said. "Visuals often help you think about it." Cook will be working pro bono on the renderings. "We're trying to take all of these thoughts and put them into drawings," Cook said.

Cook and Spicer will meet for the firs time with community members interested in the project at 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, 5480 S. Kenwood Ave. Spicer said it will be a working meeting and not a lecture.

The conference will continue soliciting community input on Harper court through an online survey and other methods yet to be determined. Top

 

 

From Irene Sherr, Community Counsel, for Ald. Preckwinkle, the TIF and other organizers of the Workshop. (See a more c