A long-vacant lot in Chicago’s West Town is set to become a five-story mixed-use building after the Chicago City Council approved plans for 2315 W. Grand St. The mid-block site sits between N. Oakley Blvd. and N. Western Ave.
The project is being led by Panoptic Group with Hanna Architects as the design firm. Plans call for a 62-foot-tall building with a façade motif seen in other recent Hanna projects, a masonry grid that frames inset window bays and small balconies.
Inside, the ground floor is planned to include about 1,600 square feet of commercial space along Grand Avenue, plus a lobby, a bike parking area, and a 16-vehicle parking garage accessed from the alley. Above, the building is designed for 16 residential units, using three- and four-bedroom layouts. Each floor would hold four units, and the top-floor units are planned to have private rooftop decks above.
For mason contractors, a grid façade with recessed openings can mean a lot of repeats, but also a lot of edge conditions. Inset bays and balcony interruptions typically require extra attention to flashing continuity, end dams at terminations, weeps above through-wall flashings, and clean, consistent mortar joint alignment where planes change. Those details can drive scaffold planning, field labor sequencing, and how early shop drawings and mockups need to happen.
The development is also expected to complement Panoptic Group’s nearby proposal at 2323 W. Grand, a larger project planned for 52 residential units over about 2,700 square feet of retail. Both projects have city approval, but neither has a confirmed construction timeline.
Read the full, original article from Chicago YIMBY here.