Should CTA Cut Purple Line Parking Lot for Residential Development?

WILMETTE, IL - A recent college study on transit oriented development found that the Chicago Transit Authority could benefit from selling a portion of its parking lot at the Linden Avenue Purple Line station in Wilmette to a developer.

Graduate students in the Transit Oriented Development studio program at the University of Illinois at Chicago recommend the CTA actively seek developers to buy the property near Linden and 4th Street and build a three- or four-story residential building, according to a Wilmette Life report.

The study indicated the CTA could get between $2.6 million and $3.5 million by selling 40 percent of its underused parking space and between $3.3 million and $4.4 million by selling half of it. The new residents from the residential facility would more than make up for the riders the CTA would lose by minimizing the parking spaces.

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