’Stop Work Order’ placed on 6 Corners Sears; no updated development plans released but interior demo started weeks ago
by BRIAN NADIG
Earlier this month the company which owns the former Sears Department Store, 4730 W. Irving Park Road, boasted on Twitter that it was in the process of demolishing and renovating the building’s interior. That tweet was later removed, and a “stop work order” reportedly has been issued.
The tweet also said “big things to come” for the parcel, but no details have been released, and Alderman James Gardiner (45th) recently said that Novak Construction has not given him a proposal for the site.
Novak, which acquired the property last year, has not responded to e-mail inquiries from Nadig Newspapers asking for an update on the project.
A Jan. 22 stop work notice from the city Department of Buildings states that the order was being issued for “removal of interior partitions without permits.”
Pictures which Novak included with its Tweet showed portions of the building being gutted.
“Everyone loves a demo day. The Novak team is hard at work to renovate the 81-year-old Art Deco building at Chicago’s Six Corners, previously occupied by Sears. Big things to come,” the tweet said.
In response to the tweet, some residents expressed concern that the site’s redevelopment was moving forward without community feedback.
Gardiner said that any proposal for the site will be subject to public input and that he is looking for “a community-based development that will improve the walkability of Six Corners” and enhance the overall community.
The site’s previous owner had proposed putting 434 residential units and a health club on the site, but Gardiner has said that it is unlikely Novak would stick with that plan.
Preservation Chicago has urged that the former department store be saved from the wrecking ball and that all or part of the building be reused in the site’s redevelopment.
Due to the area’s “pedestrian street” designation, new construction on the site would have to be built along the sidewalk.
