Community Members Voice Concerns about Crescent Heights High-Rise at Roosevelt/Indiana

Last Monday we posted about a community meeting discussing the impending Crescent Heights huge high-rise at Roosevelt and Indiana.  We received some comments and emails from readers who wanted their concerns heard.

Based on their petition website, they outline some keys issues they have;

We feel that we are part of what South Loop has become: the vibrant community, the place to live and invest. The well-being of this community is also in the best interest of the City, Crescent Heights and any other party willing to invest into this neighborhood. 

Among multiple identified issues, the most impacting are: 

1. Height of the base. 17th floor base (connection between two towers) is not compatible with the original plan and height of other decks/sky parks. This base structure is to be multi-floor garage which can be implemented as underground construction (just as surrounding towers) 

2. Wall separating South Loop. The two massive towers with 17th floor connector effectively create a wall separating our neighborhood from the park. The north and west sides of the park have a variety of buildings with visual access to the park. The south side of the park is now to become an impenetrable wall of 4 tall and thick towers. 

3. Traffic. Both towers are planned to have more than 1200 new garage spots total. This will add into already overcrowded South Loop traffic. With the building being mostly apartments there could be a lower parking space ratio and fewer spots. That would mitigate the traffic problems and enable a shorter base. 

4. Potential impact on value of existing properties. Both towers add substantial supply of units to South Loop market. This issue in conjunction with creating the wall separating South Loop from the park would have a negative impact on the value of existing properties.

Points 1-3 seem reasonable.

But they lost us on point 4.  While we understand that residents care about the value of their homes, it seems unrealistic to think a private company needs to be concerned about the value of others real estate properties.  If the company thinks there is demand, they should have the right to proceed as they deem fit.  Right?

(Hat tip:  LH!)