It’s not a very large neighborhood. The major distinction of the eight-block area that runs southwest from the corner of North and Wells is that it has stubbornly resisted large-scale redevelopment for over 30 years.
“It’s absolutely absurd to put urban renewal in this area,” said Jean Washington, spokeswoman for the Near North Property Owners Association, which is fighting the project. “It’s like putting urban renewal on Astor Street.”
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Many residents of the area now want to see the Mohawk-North project scrapped. But Burton Natarus, the local 42nd Ward alderman, doesn’t. Natarus says the city has already committed federal Community Development Block Grant funds to the project, and he argues that unless Chicago goes ahead and acquires the property through urban renewal it won’t have a voice in deciding what type of new development comes in. Natarus says he wants to see a mix of housing, with special emphasis on rental housing for middle-income residents. If its future were left to the forces of the private sector, Natarus argues, the area would probably become exclusively an upscale extension of Lincoln Park.
“It would do an awful lot for Mr. Natarus’s neighborhood if he would allow this urban renewal project to die,” said Mary Joe McGinty, who is vice president of the Near North Neighborhood Association and who recently built a new home about 50 feet outside of the urban renewal zone. “It would do a lot for the city’s tax rolls and it would do a lot for the people who have lived in the area for 30 years and who now stand to make some money on their land but have their backs to the wall. If Alderman Natarus allows this program to go through, he will be depriving these people of their right of who they can sell their property to.”
Although the urban renewal designation was never repealed, plans to clear the area more or less fell by the wayside. But in 1985, they resurfaced when developer William Moorehead, the main real estate player in the area, proposed acquiring all the land in the urban renewal area as well as most of the property along the east side of Mohawk.
Early in 1987, the city filed eminent domain suits to acquire the vacant lots in the area. Thus far the city has closed on 11 of the lots and another 33 sales are pending in court. The city had already owned six vacant properties in the area.
“If you have ever been through the area, you know it is terrible,” said Natarus. “The difference between the north side of North Avenue and the south side of North Avenue is incredible; it is like night and day. Something has to be done with the area and we can’t afford to wait while the people in the area try to make up their minds.”
