Developer MLV Properties needs a 40th Ward zoning change for a 37-unit, five-story building near Gross Park. At the July 20 community meeting, neighbors pushed for less car storage and a bigger family-unit mix than the current mostly one- and two-bedroom plan.

MLV Properties, LLC is asking the 40th Ward to rezone 2648-58 W. Lawrence Ave. in Lincoln Square from B3-2 to B2-3 to build a five-story, 37-unit mixed-use building on a vacant lot between Gross Park and HarvestTime Foods. At a community meeting July 20 hosted by Ald. Andre Vasquez's office, the response from neighbors was a reversal of the usual Chicago development fight: they want less parking, not more — and bigger apartments.

Christine Mathis, president of the Greater Rockwell Organization and a 15-year neighborhood resident, argued the project's 13 enclosed, EV-ready parking spaces are too many for a block served by Lawrence and Western bus lines and within walking distance of two Brown Line stops. The proposal already calls for 40 bicycle spaces sized for cargo bikes and e-bikes.

Seven of the 37 units would be set aside as affordable, meeting the city's Affordable Requirements Ordinance minimum; 30 would be market-rate. Market-rate rents are estimated at $2,000 to $3,000; affordable rents at $784 to $2,600, according to plans shared at the meeting. The building runs mostly to one- and two-bedroom units. A single four-bedroom apartment appears in the plans — on the ground floor, where it could be converted to live-work space under the same rezoning. Ground-floor retail would total 2,914 square feet in at least three units.

The site was most recently a vacant one-story building that formerly housed Goosefoot Food and Wine. The building would be constructed electric-ready but initially gas-powered.

Vasquez has not issued a position; community feedback through his office closes August 3. Carl Beien, Gross Park Advisory Council president, said after the meeting he welcomes more neighbors using the park.

The unit-size question is one the ARO doesn't resolve: Chicago's affordability ordinance counts units, not bedrooms. A building that reaches its seven-unit threshold entirely in studios or one-bedrooms clears the rule. What neighbors at 2648 W. Lawrence are asking for — more apartments sized for families — sits outside the ordinance's reach.