Community meeting set for proposed tenants at Gladstone Plaza at Northwest Highway & Foster

by BRIAN NADIG

Alderman John Arena (45th) will hold a community meeting on Tuesday, March 31, on a proposal to rezone the Gladstone Plaza at 5218-38 N. Northwest Highway to accommodate a fast-food restaurant and a retail store.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Hitch School, 5625 N. McVicker Ave.

Plans to open Immediate MD, an urgent health care facility, at the 37,000-square-foot plaza were announced last year. A medical use is allowed under the site’s M1-1 zoning, which is intended primarily for manufacturing uses, but to allow for the additional tenants, the site must be rezoned to B3-1, which is intended for shopping districts.

Renovations, including a new façade, began several months ago at the center. Immediate MD, which has three other Chicago locations, is scheduled to open later this spring.

Previous tenants at the center have included Goodyear Tire, Popeye’s Chicken, Burger King, a Subway restaurant and a Thai café, but the center has been vacant since a fire forced the closing of Popeye’s about 5 years ago.  In the past tenants have complained that traffic backups on Foster Avenue and on Northwest Highway made it difficult for customers to turn into the center.