Gladstone Park group to discuss proposed hookah bar near Milwaukee-Manila intersection 

by BRIAN NADIG

A proposed hookah bar at 5394-96 N. Milwaukee Ave. will be one of the items discussed at the Gladstone Park Neighborhood Association’s meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 13, at the Catholic Kolping Society, 5826 N. Elston Ave.

The property on Milwaukee was sold last year and was once home to Motive Parts Company of America. About 9 years ago a motorcycle store was proposed for the site, but the plan never came to fruition.

In recent years a pop-up skateboarding school for children occasionally operated inside the approximately 6,000-square-foot building.

The hookah bar, which would be restricted to patrons age 21 and over, reportedly would be upscale in design, with its facility available for private rentals. The site is located at the southwest corner of Milwaukee and Manila avenues.
The project would be contingent on the issuance of a special use from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Last year the zoning board approved a hookah bar for a former title loan store at 5762 N. Milwaukee Ave. over the objections of Alderman James Gardiner (45th) and the city Department of Planning and Development, which rarely opposes a special use request at a hearing. 

The board’s approval was contingent on not allowing BYOB and having a closing time of 10 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends, which are earlier than the times sought by the operators.

A construction permit for the build-out of the hookah bar at 5762 N. Milwaukee was issued on April 24. 

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