Photo by nbcchicago.com
Englewood residents will see a grocery store and other shops in the community in 2015.
Plans are underway to build an 18,000-square-foot Whole Foods grocery store and other shops that have yet to be determined on 22,000 square feet on the northwest corner of South Halsted Street and West 63rd Street. The site, which is part of the former Englewood Mall development, is vacant.
It is a joint project between DL3 Realty and the Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives not-for-profit development corporation. They plan to start the site work in March 2014, the vertical construction in October 2015, and open to the public in late 2015, said David Doig, president of the Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives.
The city’s Plan Commission recommended approval of the project to the City Council, which approved it on Tuesday.
Doig said the new businesses will benefit the community.
“They’ll be quality healthy food options for Englewood residents,” Doig said. “Also, an estimated 50 new jobs for residents, and a partnership with Washburne Culinary School/Kennedy King College will do outreach and give education to the community.”
In other business, the council also approved Tuesday a variety of tweaks to renovate the Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field.
“We’re very happy with everything that’s happened and believe it continues to signal the huge economic return a restored and improved Wrigley Field will deliver to the city of Chicago and Lakeview neighborhood for generations to come,” said Julian Green, vice president of Communication and Community Affairs for the Chicago Cubs.
The amended proposal – which the Plan Commission forwarded to the council with recommended approval – includes a new arch for advertising over Clark Street. In addition, the Cubs will be granted an expansion of the stadium’s property line 25 feet closer to the street than it is now. And the team will remove from its plans a patio deck over Patterson Street connected to a planned hotel and shift the entrance of the hotel from Patterson to Clark Street.
The council approved the Englewood development and the Wrigley Field changes “unanimously and now both projects can move forth with their beginning stages,” said Patrick Corcoran, director of communications for the City Clerk.
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