Developers plan mixed-use development at Church Street Plaza

GW Properties and Luxury Living are exploring a mixed-use development concept in Evanston at the Church Street Plaza retail center. Acquired by an affiliate of GW Properties in 2021, currently features an AMC movie theater, Sky Zone trampoline park, Egg Harbor restaurant, and many other vibrant retail tenants.

"Our vision for Church Street Plaza has been to enhance the city’s revitalization efforts by bringing in a diverse variety of new prominent retailers, and hospitality ventures. We believe that adding residential units, additional experiential retailers and other dynamic concepts could be an exciting next step to further enhance Church Street Plaza and attract even more vibrancy to downtown Evanston," said Mitch Goltz, principal and co-founder of GW Properties. "We recently partnered with Luxury Living on The Saint Grand, a mixed-use development in Streeterville, and believe they are the ideal partner to lead this proposed mixed-use development."

With Antunovich Associates in charge of the design, the tower is proposed to include 358 rental apartment units and 2,900 square feet of retail. The developers hope to redevelop approximately 13,000 square feet of the northernmost section of the existing Church Street Plaza retail center, creating a true mixed-use destination.

"We're excited about the opportunity to add new rental housing and retail to Church Street Plaza and are actively seeking community feedback," said Aaron Galvin, Founder of Luxury Living. "We recently held our first conceptual exploratory meeting with a group of local residents to share our proposed ideas and plan to continue engaging with the community over the coming months through additional meetings with local residents, business owners, and other interested stakeholders. We've assembled a top-tier team, engaging Antunovich Associates for architecture and interior design and will continue to add additional best-in-class partners and collaborators.” 

The development partnership has submitted an initial zoning analysis application. Subsequent meetings will be held with neighbors and the Evanston community in the coming months.