Condos and Consequences

Last week the village board voted down a higher
structure at the old Kohl Children's Museum
property, but approved a 5-story building at
the old Ford dealership, one side of which
faces Green Bay Rd. On the other side there
will be a 3-story parking garage, if the
library board discussion is accurate,in full
view of the single family residents across
the street on Park.

This from a Wilmette resident, a reader of
this blog:
I was listening to the rerun of the Library Bd meeting,
and they were discussing how the three level
parking deck will be "hidden" by the 5 floor condo
building approved for the Ford site.   Hidden only
from EAST Wilmette,not the rest of us.

Wilmette is becoming a very expensive place to live.  
First, we have to pay for low income housing,
and soon we will have to fund the new parking deck. 
According to the Library Bd, the success of retail
& food operations depend on the deck.  They spoke
of Green Bay Road as a "destination" for shopping.
Build it and they will come?
Well, maybe, but left out of this discussion
is, of course, the impact on our already
congested streets around there, with train
crossings and school crossings even now
pushing traffic into the neighborhoods.
Many residents already avoid the village
center because of the existing traffic.
Just another unintended consequence of the
actions of the visionaries on the village
board.

But the other outrage is this---an
underground parking garage has apparently
morphed into a 3 story garage above ground.
I don't know if this has been discussed
at a village board meeting or not, (no
mention in the paper when the condos were
approved) but if it hasn't, it should be.
Because this is the old switcheroo.
There was always vague talk of an
underground garage being a bit expensive,
but it was never spelled out before this
5 story building was approved. As we know
from discussions in Winnetka, underground
parking runs about $50,000 a space. So I 
suppose the "trustees" are going to suggest
they are saving the taxpayers dollars by
building it above ground. But of course,
if we are paying for all of it and not the 
developers, that's not a savings, is it?
And what kind of a value do you put on 
the view of those houses on Park, looking
at a hulking garage, rather than a simple 
parking lot with trees?