Lakeview Connection is a new 2-story commercial building in the heart of the Lakeview neighborhood on the northside of Chicago. The property boarders Clark Street, Belmont Ave., and Halsted Street, just north of where Clark Street and Halsted Street intersect. The owner and tenant of the property, 5th 3rd Bank, wanted to see the site redeveloped with the stipulation that they would come back in at the same location at the corner of Clark St and Belmont Ave. The new building allows for a grocery store on the 2nd floor and creates retail space along Clark Street and Belmont Avenue, allowing the bank to go back into its original location. Even though the site was transit served, the grocery store required parking which was placed completely underground. The loading requirements for the site were extremely complex due to size of trucks needed to make deliveries for the grocery store and because of the mandate from the Chicago Department of Transportation that no backing-up turning movements would be allowed from trucks into loading spaces at the site due to the amount of existing traffic in the area. This was made even more complex due to the site sloping from east to west almost 7’. The design solution was to locate the loading dock towards the middle of the building, screened behind the retail at the ground floor, and having the entrance and exit of the loading at opposite ends of the block, forcing trucks to ‘drive through’ the building so that they could enter and exit the loading area with the least amount disruption to vehicles and pedestrians along Halsted Street and Clark Street.
