I read with interest “Day of the Condo” [January 15], the report in which developer Mark Weiss’s proposal to build 30 expensive condos and retail spaces in northwest Uptown was maligned by some of the agitated neighbors who fear “the costs will price many people out, so we’ll lose our diversity.”
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Now, I haven’t seen the building plans, but let’s assume the naysayers are accurate in stating that the neighborhood “would lose its character. It would be just Lincoln Park II,” a gross generalization if there ever was one. Let’s also assume the current businesses would need to relocate. Why is any of this viewed with such foreboding by a neighborhood obviously in need of such investment? Further, Weiss has indicated a willingness to work with the local residents to address concerns about building design and parking.
I hope Weiss can cobble together a mutually acceptable arrangement with his Uptown neighbors, but if not, I invite him to look further north to the Rogers Park community. While we may hold his feet to the fire on the project’s design, we won’t sing the false praises of the benefits of diversity. We’re already there and looking for more of what he has to offer.
