Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Lakeview Mariano's Site Would Include Park, Health Club, Developers Say

By Serena Dai | April 15, 2014 8:51am
 Developers Barrett and Porto and Antunovich Associates presented a development proposal for 3030 N. Broadway, which includes a Mariano's and a 24-hour health club.
3030 N. Broadway Mariano's
View Full Caption

LAKEVIEW — Plans for a long-awaited development featuring a Mariano's at 3030 N. Broadway also call for a health club, a park and a new street that would separate two buildings.

Barrett and Porto Real Estate and Antunovich Associates presented plans for a five-story complex on the property, which also is owned by a city pension fund, to nearly 50 people at a South East Lake View Neighbors meeting Monday night.

Mariano's would be the anchor tenant, with a 24-hour XSports Fitness gym above it. A separate building could house up to four more retail tenants, and land behind the property — which edges up to Waterloo Court — would feature a small park.

Two floors of parking and one small ground floor area would provide a total of 280 parking spots.

Developers looked at previous renditions of proposals on the lot and adjusted according to past neighbor feedback on loading and parking, Joe Antunovich said.

"I think we made vast improvements over that for you," he said. "And we're thrilled we can bring this marvelous tenant to your neighborhood."

The same team also designed and built the Mariano's stores in the West Loop and Ravenswood.

The Lakeview complex calls for two buildings — one with a two-level Mariano's, two levels of parking and a gym, and the other with spots for retail. The buildings are separated by a 32-foot wide street for drivers to access a hidden loading zone and indoor parking.

The amount of parking and the addition of a street sparked some neighbor concern that the popular commercial corridor would become less pedestrian-friendly.

"You build the parking, cars will come," said John Rafkin, the neighborhood group's vice president. "This is an urban, pedestrian store. I question if you need two full stories of parking."

"It's an awfully long way to cross," group president Mike Demetriou said of the street.

Antunovich said the street will have its own curbless sidewalk in hopes of making it more pedestrian-friendly. It would use a uniform material in hopes of making it more appealing, he said.

The developers also plan to plant "plump, mature trees" along Broadway and in the park, he said.

"This is not just a driveway that takes you down and is dark and dingy," he said. "We’ll want to make this and celebrate this and make it colorful and make these storefronts active."

Dan Farrell, vice president of real estate at Mariano's parent company Roundy's, said the property would still be a store to walk to, but the company wants "ample" parking for both the grocery store and the health club.

Customers at the Ravenswood store both walk and drive there regularly, he said.

"They're stopping in off the train on a daily basis, and then on the weekend with a car for a full week's" worth of groceries, Farrell said. "We sense we need the walking traffic but also have an opportunity for driving."

Other shops at the site likely would be service-oriented, such as hair salons or dry cleaners, or fast-casual food, developers said. The top floor with the gym would also offer a small studio for a yoga or pilates tenant and a balcony that XSports could use for outdoor fitness classes.

Developers will meet again with the neighborhood group to continue discussions. They hope to have permits by the end of this year, break ground in February 2015 and open on June 8, 2016.

The property has been vacant since Dominick's burned down in 2005. Other developers have come to the table, but a series of financing issues and lawsuits killed their plans.