A proposed hotel, apartment and retail complex right across from Chicago's Wrigley Field has many in the city up in arms about what they fear will be just another shopping mall ruining the area's urban feel. But those fears are unfounded.
Architecture critic Blair Kamin says the new development proposed near the ballpark -- dubbed Wrigleyville -- doesn't have the suburban banality many of its opponents are fighting to keep out of their neighborhood.
"In reality, the proposed development, which is called Addison Park on Clark, has few attributes of car-oriented suburbia. It is not - repeat, not - a mall. The real issue is what sort of urban character is heading Wrigleyville's way. Will the design respect the neighborhood's edgy vitality? Or will it give us something like the banal Chicago of the North Bridge retail district, where one beige-colored, concrete-faced monstrosity lines up against another.
The $100 million proposal, which was designed by Chicago architects Solomon Cordwell Buenz for M&R Development in partnership with SAS Equities, isn't that bad."
Read the full story: Wrigleyville project is no mall invasion; foes' worst fears are unfounded, but planned complex across from Wrigley Field still needs tweaks
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