Folks who walk down Main Street in south Evanston know the spot. The old laundromat at 801-809 Main St. is gone, and the lot is planted with ryegrass for now. But a developer has a bigger plan for it than before.
As Evanston Now reported on Oct. 7, developer CityPads' revised plan calls for 72 apartments in a main building, plus 16 for-sale condominium townhomes. The earlier version called for 64 apartments and 15 townhomes.
Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th) shared the plans at a ward meeting Oct. 6 and told residents the developers have submitted an official zoning analysis for the project.
Three buildings around an existing one
The city bought the laundromat property and tore down the building earlier this year. After looking for developers, the city agreed in August to sell the vacant site to CityPads for $1.5 million.
The plan fills in the space around an existing building at 914 Sherman Ave. with three new buildings:
- The apartment building. 72 units, 14 parking spaces, bike parking and 1,600 square feet of retail along Main Street.
- Townhomes. Behind it, 10 three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath townhomes, each with its own enclosed parking space.
- A six-unit building. Behind that, six three-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath units with six enclosed parking spaces.
That's 72 rentals and 16 for-sale homes in all, and every one of the for-sale homes has three bedrooms, which makes them family-size units.
The plan includes some affordable homes. Eleven of the 72 apartments would rent to households earning 60% of the area median income, which Evanston Now listed as $58,320 for a household of two. Two of the 16 condos would be sold to households earning 80% of the area median income, or $77,800 for a household of two. All told, that's 13 affordable homes out of 88, with the affordable rentals making up a little more than 15% of the apartment building.
CityPads isn't new to the neighborhood. It built Tapestry Station, just across the street, and is building another project at 910 Custer Ave., just around the corner. That gives it a track record on the same few blocks, and it means local crews may already know the developer.
What happens next
The project still has to go through Evanston's formal land use process and win City Council approval, and the plan could change along the way. The sale itself depends on that approval, so CityPads doesn't own the land until the council signs off.
In the meantime, the lot is growing ryegrass, millet and wheat, and Nieuwsma said sunflowers will be added in the spring.
The project is a mix of building types on a single lot, and that matters for the trades. The 72-unit building with retail along Main Street is the biggest piece, with structure, MEP systems, drywall, flooring and finish work across dozens of apartments, plus a storefront build-out for the retail space. The 10 townhomes and the six-unit building behind it are a different kind of work, closer to what residential framers, roofers and finish carpenters do every day.
The parking plan is lean, too. The apartment building has only 14 spaces, plus bike parking, so there's no large parking structure in the plan. The 16 for-sale homes each get their own enclosed space.
The changes from the first version cut in both directions. The apartment count went up by eight, from 64 to 72, while the for-sale side went from 15 townhomes to 16 condo units split between a row of townhomes and a separate six-unit building.
No general contractor has been named for the project, and no construction schedule has been announced.
Why it matters for Contractors
801 Main St. could bring 88 new homes and ground-floor retail to a corner of south Evanston that has sat empty since the laundromat came down. If the City Council approves it, contractors should expect a 72-unit apartment job with retail, along with townhome and small-building work behind it. CityPads already has projects across the street and around the corner, so subs who've worked on Tapestry Station or 910 Custer may have a head start. Keep an eye on the land use review and the council vote. Since the sale depends on approval, that's the moment to reach out about bids, and the plan could still shift before then.