It seems that the city’s planned manufacturing districts aren’t sacred sites when it comes to residential development. According to Crain’s Chicago Business, developer Cal Boender has just convinced City Hall to allow him to build a 205-unit complex at Galewood Yards, an abandoned 50-acre rail yard at 1900 N. Central Ave., on the West Side.
The PMDs are designed to keep industrial jobs in the city, as the overall manufacturing sector declines nationwide, but persistent developers are granted concessions from time to time.
One of my superiors here at YoChicago subscribes to what I think is a highly probable conspiracy theory – that the PMD is a tool that allows land owners to reduce their property taxes and keep a piece of dirt in a “long-term holding pattern” while waiting for it to appreciate before proposing a residential development.
So does this mean we’ll get some nice riverfront condos in the Clybourn PMD Corridor sometime soon?