Community input on Sears site sought at Nov. 14 meeting
by BRIAN NADIG
Community input on the redevelopment of the former Sears Department Store site at Six Corners will be sought at a meeting hosted by Alderman John Arena (45th) and the Six Corners Association at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14, at 4035 N. Cicero Ave.
"It is too early in the process for the developer (Seritage Growth Properties and Tucker Development) to present a proposal. Instead, this meeting will be your opportunity to tell the developers how you think this important site can serve the community.
"Of course, I am aware that a concept plan did appear on a real-estate broker’s website. Those plans, however, were just concepts shopped around to tenant prospects. They have not been vetted nor codified by me, the city’s planning department, or – most importantly – the community. As far as I’m concerned, the site remains a blank slate," Arena said in his Nov. 2 newsletter.
The conceptional plan called for the construction of 556 apartments and for the department store building to include a fitness center and a movie theater.
Arena has said that he would like the project to be shorter than the 10-story senior living complex planned for 4747 W. Irving Park Road and that any residential component for the Sears site to exceed the minimum requirement for affordable housing.
Currently under city law at least 10 percent of the units must be offered at below-market rate rents to families with a household income of about 60 percent of the area’s median income. However, Arena has called for higher minimums in Portage Park and Jefferson Park in an effort to curb the effects of gentrification, which can lead to higher housing costs in a community.
Arena’s newsletter lists the address for the meeting as 4035 N. Cicero, which is the former Sears Auto Center building.
