Lee Plaza may just see new life: Its owner, the City Housing Commission, is looking to work with a viable developer to build the financing necessary to revive the property. In the case that the numbers could be made to work, the agency would part with the building for $1.
Built in 1929, the 15-story Art Deco tower is located on West Grand Boulevard and has sat vacant for since the early 1990s. Mildred Robbins of the West Grand Blvd. Collaborative has hopes that a renovated Lee Plaza would be of great benefit to the neighborhood. "If something were to come of this, it could create a revitalized environment," she says. "It can mean jobs, sustainability, more community in terms of businesses, retail and housing."
Robbins envisions a mixed-use development that could also take advantage of adjacent parcels. "Because of blight in the area, there is actually some opportunity created by all the vacant property," she says. She also see a potential for cultural and educational aspects to the building's programming because of its proximity to Northwestern High School and Henry Ford Hospital.
Lee Plaza hit the news back in 2002 when terra cotta lions scrapped from its exterior turned up on a Chicago condominium complex. They have been returned to the city after efforts made by the FBI, but an estimated $2 million worth of damage was caused.
Source: Mildred Robbins, WGBC
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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