65 E. Huron Street
On September 9, 2011 Alderman Reilly announced the following:
"Yesterday at City Council, Alderman Reilly introduced an ordinance to sunset Residential-Business-Institutional Planned Development No. 889 back to its previous zoning of DX-12 (Downtown Mixed-Use District).
Representatives from St. James Episcopal Church met with Alderman Reilly recently to approve plans to improve and initiate beautification of their existing property, including a renovation of their plaza. At that time, the Church stated their intent to focus on the existing structure and not pursue redevelopment of their site as approved in the planned development ordinance. As a good neighbor, the Church has agreed to this sunset of their planned development ordinance.
The site located at 65 E. Huron was originally upzoned in late 2003 from B7-6 zoning classification (now DX-12 classification) to Residential-Business-Institutional Planned Development No. 889. A subsequent amendment to the PD was passed in February 2006.
The most recent, amended plan permitted a 750' mixed-use tower to include a maximum of 330 residential units; a hotel use; and an institutional use atop a parking base containing a minimum of 330 parking spaces. The maximum allowed FAR in this amendment was 18.85 - with 6.85 points of that floor area being achieved through the purchase of six different zoning bonuses. To view a copy of the existing planned development ordinance, please click HERE.
In the coming days, residents within the noticing radius will receive notification from the City Council Committee on Zoning about a zoning change for this property. Alderman Reilly is initiating this zoning change because the plan anticipated in the Planned Development is no longer a viable option for the property owner, the St. James Episcopal Church congregation.
For the reasons stated above, Alderman Reilly believes that the community is best served by administering this "zoning housekeeping" - reverting this planned development to its underlying zoning to simplify the Church's stewardship of this site. Because the Church structure is within the planned development, they have been bound to a series of internal city reviews laden with bureaucratic red tape. Due to the Church's commitment to the site and their agreement to forgo the additional development rights, Alderman Reilly is confident that this sunset is beneficial not only to the Church but also the surrounding community who will now have predictability on future use at 65 E. Huron Street.
Through the zoning change that Alderman Reilly is implementing, "Residential-Business-Institutional Planned Development No. 889" will be eliminated and the zoning classification will be restored back to what is was: DX-12 (Downtown Mixed Use District) with a maximum floor area ratio (FAR) of 12.0 - not the 18.85 FAR achieved through zoning bonuses permitted in the Planned Development. The previously approved plan for this site cannot be built once this downzoning is finalized."