4th Pres. Reaches For The Heavens

By vouchey in News on Jun 14, 2004 12:18PM

You know that really pretty church across the street from the John Hancock Building? Yeah, that one. Well, the folks who belong to the Fourth Presbyterian Church voted 611-173 yesterday to approve sale of land behind the church for the construction of a 64-story condominium. In return the church gets $25 million, and use of the first six floors for various church outreach programs. Chicagoist first brought this story to you two weeks ago, and since then neighborhood groups surrounding Fourth Pres. have started to heat up.

One of the developers of the project, Jerry James, president of Edward R. James Partners, LLC, points out that the project still has to get city approval, get financing, and pre-sell the units before ground is broken. But we all know that financing and unit sales will be the easiest part. The real story will be getting city approval for rezoning, in an area that has had the highest build-up than any other part of the city. Neighborhood groups are sure to be active in the next few months, and watch for comments from Alderman Burt Natarus the Chicago alderman for the 42nd Ward, where the property falls.