After enduring several months of criticism, the company behind the Edgewater redevelopment has gone back to the drawing board.
After taking into consideration the concerns of neighborhood residents, as well as city officials, Hammes Co. has redesigned much of its previous plan.
The main concerns over the original plan centered on the height of a new hotel tower, cars blocking the planned lakefront view corridor and buses and trucks creating too much of a disturbance. Tax incremental financing was also an issue, as was making sure the hotel remained a public space, said Amy Supple of Hammes Co.
The new proposed designs include a removal of the top level of the 1973 tower to create a public terrace with cascading steps down to the waterfront.
The terrace will allow for more green space, as well as a level of interaction for the public, Supple said. During the winter months, an ice rink will be added into the space.
The company also removed the top three levels of the new hotel tower, significantly lessening its height and reducing the 228-room capacity to somewhere between 180 and 190 rooms.
Supple said the goal of the redevelopment is to make it a destination within the city and especially the Mansion Hill neighborhood.
""There is no place that utilizes the waterfront,"" she said. ""We don't leverage our greatest assets: the lakes.""
Construction of the new hotel is estimated to create 700 to 800 jobs and between 400 and 500 permanent jobs once it is complete, according to supporters.
