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Ashland Ace Hardware Building Sells for $1.75 Million, Condos Coming Next

By Alisa Hauser | December 19, 2014 3:12pm | Updated on December 22, 2014 8:02am
 After 50 years in the neighborhood, Ace Hardware at 1013 N. Ashland Ave. is closed.
After 50 years in the neighborhood, Ace Hardware at 1013 N. Ashland Ave. is closed.
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DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser

NOBLE SQUARE —  A building that was home to a popular family-owned Ace Hardware has been sold for $1.75 million and will be demolished and replaced with new retail storefronts and luxury condos along Ashland Avenue.

Ukrainian Village-based Developer Gary Mikhaylov, owner of GNP Development, bought the nearly 15,000-square-foot Ace building, which sits on a 19,000-square-foot lot at 1011-13 N. Ashland Ave., for $1.75 million on Thursday.

Mikhaylov plans to build a four-story, 14-unit condo building with 3,500 square feet of retail on the ground level, divided into two storefronts, said Realtor Karen Biazar, a partner at Wicker Park's North Clybourn Group, which will be listing the new properties.

"That site is an ideal spot for development. Ashland is a central hub and while that little pocket of Ashland Avenue is still slightly blighted, it is taking that next step and continuing to develop with the Division 'L' station and Kennedy Expressway nearby," Biazar said.

Biazar said the condos are scheduled to be ready for occupancy by next spring, after a groundbreaking this spring.

The residential units will all be three-bedroom units and range from 1,350 to 2,150 square feet, with garage parking and an elevator, Biazar said.

Greg Dietz, vice president of Baum Realty, represented the Macchiaroli family, who owned Ashland Ace Hardware, in the transaction.

"It was on the market for less than two weeks. In the fall, we received numerous competitive offers. The ultimate buyer had it under contract for quite some time because the family operating the Ace Hardware needed time to unwind the business," Dietz said

Dietz said that Ashland Avenue is "slowly changing" and that the site was appealing because it is only one-quarter mile from the CTA Division Blue Line "L" station and has good access to the southbound Kennedy Expressway via Augusta Boulevard.

After the sale, Carmine Macchiaroli, whose family converted the former paint shop, established in 1911, to an Ace Hardware in 1964, said that he was feeling "kind of bittersweet."

Macchiaroli, 59, met his wife of 25 years, a Chicago Police officer, while he was working behind the hardware shop counter.

"It was time to [sell]. The buildings were too old and worn out. All's well that ends well, but I'm a little lost right now, I miss that neighborhood. I miss the people. There is a great population of young people there, and as as someone close to age 60, they keep you young," Macchiaroli said.

When asked if he has plans to possibly reopen the store in another location, Macchiaroli, said, "Will the Macchiaroli family open another Ace store? We are looking for an opportunity. Some people say we are kind of good at what we do. Given the opportunity, we'd open a modern store in a modern building."

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