Cubs plan to add nearly 260 parking spaces and 3 signs overlooking Wrigley Field

A number of Lake View residents on Tuesday night balked at a proposal from the Chicago Cubs to significantly expand one of their parking lots when the team has seen fewer people park at its lots over the past three seasons.

The Cubs' community affairs team presented plans for the expansion to the East Lake View Neighbors association, along with a proposal for three new outfield-facing signs that would top buildings owned by the team.

The Cubs want to add 259 parking spaces at its Camry lot, at the corner of Racine Avenue and Grace Street. The lot currently has 688 spaces, according to Will McIntee, director of government and community affairs for the Cubs.

The expansion comes after Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago sold its Grace Street property, 1114 W. Grace St., to the team. The site was home to the House of the Good Shepherd, but the organization decided to move the shelter and its programs to another building, Brendan O'Sullivan, Catholic Charities' director of government and corporate relations, said.

“We reached out to Cubs first,” O’Sullivan said. “We've had conversations over long periods of time. I think they've asked before, and we weren't interested. And we reached back out.”

The Cubs said its lot expansion plans would need to be green-lit by the Chicago Plan Commission. Mike Lufrano, executive vice president of community and legal affairs for the Cubs, said the team will first take feedback from Tuesday's meeting and come back to neighbors "as quickly as we can" with an updated plan.

McIntee said the additional spaces will keep Cubs fans from parking in the neighborhood.

But about 37% of game attendees drive to Wrigley Field while 63% use alternate modes of transportation, according to the team. The Cubs said fewer drivers are likely because of its advertising push encouraging public transit use to Wrigley Field.

“We do know that fans drive to the ballpark, and the project is really meant to meet the demand of those who do drive and try to prevent those folks from parking in the neighborhood and not necessarily meant to encourage more to drive to the ballpark,” McIntee said. “We want to continue to see that number of fans that are utilizing alternative methods of transportation continue to rise,” McIntee said.

Several people asked why parking spaces are being added if fewer fans are driving. One cited the iconic line from the classic film, “Field of Dreams,” saying, “If you build it, they will come.”

Neighbors also said a bigger lot could create more traffic in a neighborhood that is already bloated after a game ends.

Cubs leadership pushed back on that idea and said its plans will meet demand that already exists, not create more.

“If we can't provide them a place to park, they're going to park on neighborhood streets," Lufrano said. "They're going to park elsewhere in the community. We're not trying to add more cars. We're not adding more fans. We're just giving those who come a place to park.”

The Cubs will add another exit at the Camry Lot, 1126 W. Grace St., that would allow drivers to cross Racine Avenue into the smaller Corolla lot, 3815 N. Clark St. From there, drivers could more quickly get out of the neighborhood, McIntee said.

The expansion will not impact Kelly Park, which is northeast of the lot. And the parking area's east-side concrete wall will remain to help insulate neighbors from the lot, which some said is an eyesore that's rarely at capacity.

The Cubs also presented plans for three branded signs on buildings owned by the team.

Two signs would be on 1010 W. Waveland Ave., in front of the Wrigley Rooftops bleachers, where fans can sit and have a view into the outfield. One of the signs would be in the shape of a silver ball or sphere on the right side of the roof.

A third sign would be placed on the roof of 3639 N. Sheffield Ave., down the street from the Benjamin Moore sign.

The new signs would be for third-party advertisers, but no advertisers are confirmed yet. The team is in "stages of discussion" with multiple advertisers, according to Lufrano.

“If you've been to any other major league ballpark and you see the outfield, there's a lot of signs that help generate revenue for the ball clubs,” McIntee said. “We're the only ballpark in Major League Baseball that has restrictions from the city because of our landmark status, and so we're trying to make up for the fact that we can't put them in the ballpark by putting some additional signage across the street.”

The signs would only be illuminated during games or other events, according to the Cubs.

The Cubs hope to have the signs approved by the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Buildings Standards in time for Opening Day on March 26, Lufrano said.