1890 Maple

The current structure at 1890 Maple (on the southwest corner of Maple and Emerson) as of April, 2009. This building, constructed in 1988, was the first built in the Northwestern University/Evanston Research Park; its first tenant was the Institute for the Learning Sciences, a business in the field of Artificial Intelligence. A developer, Robert King of Carroll Properties, gained control of this site and the adjacent 1881 Oak St. parcel, and proposes to demolish this building and build a 14-story high-rise apartment building on the site, with retail space on the main floor. The Council approved the proposal in 2007 after it was represented that a Trader Joe's would be the anchor tenant. The promised Trader Joe's tenant failed to materialize, and as of spring 2009, construction has still not started. The developer now is asking for City of Evanston funds to make the project, currently stalled, profitable at a rate of almost 14% return on investment. The request amounts to about a $4 million assist from the City, approximately $2M in property tax breaks and a rebate of about $2M in sales tax from the hypothetical grocery store.