Gunshots were heard at about 11:10 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, in the 5200 block of West Pensacola Avenue in Portage Park, at about the same time a stolen vehicle was read story
New business in the works for former CVS site at Milwaukee & Lawrence in Jefferson Park
by BRIAN NADIG
A new business, possibly a daycare, is in the works for the former CVS Pharmacy at the southeast corner of Milwaukee and Lawrence avenues.
The pharmacy closed in January of 2020, but CVS reportedly continued to pay rent for several years after the store’s closing. The site includes an approximately 10,000-square-foot building and 38 parking spaces.
Building permits are pending for the interior demolition of the pharmacy portion of the building and for the installation of new wall signs with the name “Willowbrae,” which reportedly refers to a chain of childcare learning academies in the U.S. and Canada. The company could not be reached for comment.
The opening of a new business on the site would mean for the first time in years all four corners of the Milwaukee-Lawrence intersection are occupied.
The corner’s current occupants are Hoyne Bank, 4786 N. Milwaukee Ave., Mr. B’s Caribbean Grill, 4801 N. Milwaukee Ave., and Sunnyside Plants and Gifts, 4800 N. Milwaukee Ave.
The 4700 block of North Milwaukee has been plagued with multiple storefronts which have been vacant not just for years, but in many instances decades.
However, the block got some potential good news earlier this year when a developer purchased a series of buildings at 4745-57 N. Milwaukee Ave. and announced plans to build a mixed-use development there.
The construction of the CVS at the Milwaukee-Lawrence intersection was controversial when it was proposed in the early 2000s.
Some residents objected to locating the store’s parking lot at the intersection instead of “holding the corner” with a building. Several nearby property owners filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the project but were unsuccessful.
The issuance of a special use permit for the pharmacy’s drive-through was contingent on the permanent installation of a decorative feature in front of the parking lot, but the planned artwork never materialized. At the time recommendations included a gazebo or a small replica of Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.
Also in Jefferson Park, developers for Sprouts Farmers Market were set to close on the purchase of the former CVS Pharmacy property at 6200 W. Higgins Ave., in mid-August, according to Alderman James Gardiner (45th).
Plans call for the former pharmacy building to be retrofitted into a grocery store. A construction permit for the project was pending as of Aug. 16.
The permit application states that renovations will include a new front vestibule and a tower feature.
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