ComEd Lincoln – ComEd wants to build a one-acre substation at 1111 W. Diversey Parkway in Lincoln Park, a site it bought for $11.5 million in 2021. Neighbors have formed the Diversey Community Coalition, arguing the project could be delayed, rethought, or replaced with housin
A proposal to convert a former COVID-19 testing site in Lincoln Park into an electrical substation has landed in a familiar fight: a neighborhood that feels it’s being asked to accept change without enough detail.
ComEd plans to build a one-acre substation at 1111 W. Diversey Parkway—property that Cook County records show the utility purchased for $11.5 million in 2021. The site previously served as a COVID-19 testing facility, and before that, it was a car dealership.
ComEd CEO Gil Quiniones said the new substation would help increase capacity and reliability on the North Side. A ComEd spokesperson added that Lincoln Park, in particular, has seen immense residential growth over the last 10 years, driving up power demand.
But that explanation has not satisfied the residents organizing against the plan. A neighborhood group called the Diversey Community Coalition has formed in an attempt to block the project, arguing the substation isn’t the only option—and that the land could serve the area’s housing needs.
“ We need housing. We need people to be able to get places easily and live in a place that they can plant roots in. ” Jim Maggio. who helped form the coalition. said. “The prices of everything are rising because there’s not enough supply. The purpose of putting equitable transit development housing in — multiunit residential or mixed-use with some retail on the first floor — is to add supply and to add units that are affordable for people.”.
Maggio formed the coalition with other neighbors, including long-time Lincoln Park resident Marie Poppy, after attending a spring meeting where ComEd discussed the proposal. Maggio said he and others left with “a bad taste in our mouths.”
“The atmosphere was, ‘Hey, this is a done deal. We’re telling you about it just to be nice,’” Maggio said. “People start asking questions, and [ComEd] couldn’t provide a lot of detail on what they were doing.”
The coalition’s concerns extend beyond the broader question of need. Neighbors have raised worries about the substation’s placement in a largely residential area. where several schools and a daycare sit nearby. They also point to the site’s location: the parcel is about 735 feet from the Diversey CTA station.
That proximity matters because streets within half a mile of a CTA or Metra train station—or within a quarter of a mile of a qualifying CTA bus line—are eligible for a transit-oriented development designation. City rules tied to that designation are designed to encourage walkable, high-density projects by offering grants and reduced development costs.
For some local leaders, the dispute is also about what kind of review the project should receive.
Ald. Timmy Knudsen’s (43rd) newsletter from April said ComEd can build the substation by-right because it’s considered a “minor utility.” But Knudsen. along with Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) and Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd). believes the project should instead be treated as a major utility—an approach that would require a more in-depth approval process.
The three alders sent a letter last month to Zoning Administrator Patrick Murphey asking for a written interpretation of how the project will be classified.
Knudsen also teamed with state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz (IL-6) to propose coordinated state and city legislation that would require more oversight and community involvement in “major infrastructure proposals” where projects are larger than 0.5 acres. The state bill failed in the recently-wrapped spring legislative session, but Knudsen’s ordinance is still subject to a vote.
“1111 W. Diversey is a rare large lot in the middle of a dense. high-demand residential area — adjacent to a school and next to an ADA-accessible CTA station. ” Knudsen said in a May 26 news release. “Housing should be built at a site like this. and that’s not just my opinion. but the goal of city policy like the Connected Communities Ordinance. which prioritizes housing and mixed-use development near transit.”.
Quiniones said this week he is confident a “win-win” solution can be found. “We’re engaging with all of the stakeholders and the elected officials to make sure that we find a solution that works for them. ” Quiniones said. “It is needed. Electricity use is growing. and there’s a need to … make the system more reliable and resilient as well over the long term. But we do understand that it has to work and fit within the requirements of the community.”.
For residents, the next step is getting more voices into the conversation. The Diversey Community Coalition is focusing on spreading the word about the project, Maggio and Poppy said. They plan a community meeting to discuss the substation at the Olson Auditorium in Advocate Health Masonic Hospital on Monday at 7 p.m. Later this month, ComEd plans to host a community meeting.
Poppy, who has lived in Lincoln Park for more than 35 years, said the neighborhood itself has already transformed once before.
“This used to be a commercial area — and it changed, and it all got changed to residential,” Poppy said. “I’ve seen a huge change in this neighborhood — all for the better over time, and it has been all kinds of different types of residential, which is what we are hoping for.”
ComEd Lincoln Park Diversey Parkway electrical substation Chicago neighborhoods housing transit-oriented development CTA station Timmy Knudsen Bennett Lawson Scott Waguespack Sara Feigenholtz Patrick Murphey Diversey Community Coalition