Gladstone Plaza meeting set

by BRIAN NADIG

Alderman John Arena (45th) will hold a community meeting on a proposal to rezone Gladstone Plaza, 5218-38 N. Northwest Hwy., to allow a fast food restaurant and a retail store to open there.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, 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 M1-1 zoning of the site, which is for manufacturing uses, but to allow the additional tenants, the site must be rezoned to B3-1, which is for shopping districts.

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

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