As we approach the end of another 12-month cycle, it’s easy to say that the previous year was one of “change.” That may be true of this year, or at least as much as any which has preceded it, but it may be truer still to say that 2011 was a year that showed a potential for change to come.

In Lincoln Park, residents experienced a political sea change as they bade farewell to long-serving Ald. Vi Daley (43rd) and ushered in a new local leader.

In her last term as head of the 43rd Ward, Daley kept busy as she tended to the area’s ever-present matters of real estate development: The alderman moderated a series of public meetings to deliberate over the pre-planning stages for the high-profile redevelopment of the Children’s Memorial Hospital campus, and her mettle was put to the test on more than one occasion as she fought to strike a balance between residents and developers over plans for the Lincoln Park Hospital redevelopment project.

The ballot for Daley’s successor, which originally held over a dozen names ranging from lawyers, business owners and one former boxer, was eventually narrowed down to two familiar faces: Michele Smith, the ward’s Democratic committeeman and a close second to Daley in the 2007 aldermanic election, and Tim Egan, a hospital executive who was also taking his second swing for the post. Smith came out on top of that battle, defeating Egan in an April runoff ballot which was decided by measure of just over 200 votes.

Smith, a former prosecutor, wasted little time in making good on her campaign promises. Just days after taking office in May, the alderman went to work brokering a compromise with the developers of the Lincoln Park Hospital project in the interest of finding a plan that would satisfy a faction of residents who still opposed designs for a grocery store in the redevelopment. Having recently won approval for the plan from City Council, Sandz Development LLC, the firm overseeing the project, had considerable leverage in that debate, but eventually agreed to a revised design for the plan.

The authors of the Lincoln Park Hospital redevelopment project saw gains and losses in 2011. Plans for the hospital property — which envision a residential, commercial and retail development to be built at the campus of the vacant hospital — received long-sought approval from City Council in May.

Following the council win, Sandz re-tweaked its designs at the behest of Ald. Smith and Mayor Rahm Emanuel — a decision that led to the loss of a grocery tenant for the project, according to the firm. Construction and rehabilitation work on the main hospital building is expected to begin within the next few weeks.

The year also saw substantial movement in the initial planning for the impending redevelopment of Children’s Memorial Hospital in northern Lincoln Park. In July, the hospital sold the six-acre hospital campus to McCaffery Interests, Inc. The Chicago-based firm won the bid for the property with a mixed-use development proposal “that includes primarily residential and retail space that will effectively become the ‘town center’ of Lincoln Park,” according to a hospital statement following the sale.

McCaffery has yet to unveil a comprehensive design for the Children’s site, but in November the firm told residents at a public meeting that the residential portion of the project would focus on rental units and that about half of the buildings would be preserved.

The year began with a milestone moment in public housing when the city unleashed the wrecking ball on the last remaining Cabrini-Green high rise on Chicago’s Near North Side. The public housing development, completed in 1962, gained notoriety over the last half century as a haven for crime and violence in Chicago and ultimately came to represent what was considered by many to be a failed experiment in the government-led housing of low-income citizens. The CHA evacuated the last remaining residents in the high rise, at 1230 N. Burling St., in November.

For residents at the Julia C. Lathrop Homes development, 2011 was a year of nervous anticipation as CHA moved forward on its plans to makeover the 35-acre public housing complex, where occupancy has dipped dramatically in recent years.

Lathrop Community Partners, the group chosen by CHA to lead the project, has pledged to include the community during the planning stages for the project. In the past few months, the agency and LCP have held a series of meetings with Lathrop residents and neighbors to brainstorm over design elements for the project, which is expected to cut the ration of public housing units at the development to one-third within the entire complex.

In May, Northwestern University announced that it would move forward on plans to demolish the former Prentice Women’s Hospital building, at 333 E. Superior St., to make way for research facility. The plan was put on hold when Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) convinced the school to momentarily stay its application for a demolition permit in light of concerns from architectural preservation groups who stated that the 36-year-old building deserved to be considered for landmark status.

After launching a formal review of the building and fielding studies by preservationists, the university ruled out rehabbing the Streeterville building. The group Landmarks Illinois then won another reprieve when the city agreed to review Prentice for a possible landmark designation.

Following a series of public meetings held over the summer, the Illinois Department of Transportation in October gave the go-ahead to Children’s Memorial Hospital to operate a helipad atop the institution’s new facility in Streeterville.

Members of the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents, a group that has led the charge against the hospital helipad proposal, have recently filed a lawsuit which argues that IDOT’s review overlooked numerous safety aspects surrounding the helipad.