Conversion of building planned

by BRIAN NADIG

Alderman Nicholas Sposato (38th) will hold a community meeting next week a proposal to convert a 2 1/2-story office structure at 5744 W. Irving Park Road into a luxury apartment building.

"It kind of surprised me that they are going to use the existing building (instead of a tear down)," Sposato said. The 11,800-square-foot building was constructed in the late 1980s and includes an elevator and six outdoor parking spaces.

The estimated rents for each of the six apartments would be around $2,500 a month, with the units ranging in size from about 1,800 to 2,000 square feet, Sposato said.

"That’s $30,000 a year to live in one apartment," Sposato said of the high-end nature of the project.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, at the Portage Park Senior Center, 4100 N. Long Ave. A zoning change is required for the project.

Also on the meeting’s agenda is a discussion on a proposal to allow the sale of packaged liquor at Martin’s Fresh Market, 5900 W. Montrose Ave. It is increasingly difficult for grocery stores to survive without liquor sales, Sposato said.

In other news, Sposato reported that the developer of a vacant parcel at the southwest corner of Lawrence and Austin avenues appears to be making progress on getting ready to start building townhouses there. The property was rezoned for the project last year.

At one time a retail-residential complex was planned for the site, where a Ponderosa Steakhouse closed about 20 years ago.