In the early days of 2020, passersby will be able to gauge the scope of the budding development of the much-delayed l former Purple Hotel site at Touhy and Lincoln avenues in Lincolnwood.
Motorists and pedestrians can eyeball the shells of the buildings rising to comprise the 85,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, plus a 220-room hotel and 300 luxury apartments. After a full construction season, the probable centerpiece of Lincolnwood in the 2020s will no longer be a vacant parcel sidetracked by negotiations that never materialized, as happened with this site.
The Purple Hotel’s successor structures should also serve as the top projected local news event of the first year of the 21st century’s third decade. Right behind will be the connection of Lincolnwood to Evanston as a Lake Michigan water source, a new paramedics’ station covering the east side of the community and the opening of the equivalent of 2 1/2 new car dealerships.
“You’ll see the buildings going up in 2020,” was the summation of Village Manager Anne Marie Gaura.
Complementing that development will be coordination between the Illinois Department of Transportation and the project developers on traffic-light timing and lane configurations.
The rising of the project would figure to increase traffic on Touhy, which is often clogged westbound with backups from the intersection two blocks west with Skokie Boulevard. But Lincolnwood Mayor Barry Bass pointed out the main entrance to the property will shift to Lincoln Avenue, more lightly traveled at that juncture than Touhy. Another entrance will remain on Touhy.
“The impact will be softened on Touhy,” Bass said.
“Touhy handles 40,000 cars a day,” said Lincolnwood Police Chief Jason “Jay” Parrott. “Two entrances (to the new development) will help ease traffic flow. Plans are for some modifications along Lincoln Avenue.”
When the old hotel operated, the main entrance was on Touhy with only the parking lot adjoining Lincoln Avenue.
When new residents, hotel guests and shoppers are on site in 2021, they’ll be receiving their household water from Evanston. The village of Lincolnwood is shifting from Chicago to Evanston as its water supplier to get lower prices.
Gaura’s office said the village expects to start drawing water from Evanston by July. Prior to that date, crews will bore a new pipe under the North Shore Channel, McCormick Boulevard, the CTA Yellow Line, and Touhy Avenue. Roadway restoration work is expected to be complete by October.
Meanwhile, the predominately senior citizens in the eastern part of the village will be served more quickly early in 2020 by the opening of Fire Station 45.
The village partnered in a 10-year agreement with the Carrington Retirement Center, which constructed a smaller, one-door fire station. The facility will house sleeping quarters for two paramedics to respond with their ambulance from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
“The majority of calls were in that area, so it is a good location,” said Gaura.
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A longtime home to auto dealers, Lincolnwood will witness the opening of two new dealerships and the showroom renovation of another in 2020.
Porsche of Lincolnwood will open on the east side of Lincoln Avenue, across from Proesel Park. The dealership got the approval of Porsche’s corporate headquarters with the acquisition of a vacant industrial building just south of Binny’s. The full inventory of the luxury cars plus the brand’s electric car Taycan will be available in the showroom.
Two blocks north of Touhy on Skokie Blvd., on the site of the old Publications International building, will be a Cadillac dealership split off as a stand-alone operation from the old Grossinger’s GMC-Cadlillac-Buick operation on McCormick Boulevard just north of Pratt.
“Cadillac wants to compete with Lexus and Porsche,” said Bass.
Another facility purchased by Zeigler Auto Group will feature a renovated showroom opening in 2020.
From a public-safety perspective, the new year will see continued police cooperation with local houses of worship to increase security after mass shootings at religious buildings in both the U.S. and New Zealand.
“There’s a heavy Jewish population walking to synagogue, and we want to make sure they feel comfortable,” said Parrott. In addition, police increased security around the Muslim Sacred Learning Center at 3900 W. Devon Avenue while it was under construction.
“We had a car out there with extra patrols,” said Parrott. “It’s a priority, and we do increase our presence with officers getting out, saying hello and walking through the buildings.”
The expertise of the police on increasing security at places of worship is always available, Parrott said. He added that an arm of the Department of Homeland Security also has been in the area to assess security at those facilities.
Meanwhile in education, the District 219 program for high-school graduates with disabilities is expected to open in a renovated building at 4700 W. Chase Avenue, having outgrown space at Niles North High School.
The Bridges program provides young adults ages 18 to 22 with training in the areas of independent living, job and vocational skills.