LAKEVIEW — The city is finally in talks with developers interested in buying a long-empty lot at 3030 N. Broadway, site of a former Dominick's that burned down nearly a decade ago, according to Ald. Tom Tunney (44th).
A city pension fund now fully owns the lot and is in conversations with a development group that is interested in purchasing it for a mixed-used building, five or six stories high, Tunney said at a South East Lake View Neighbors meeting on Monday.
Mariano's grocery store has long expressed interest in being an anchor tenant in a development at the site. Despite a recent increase in grocery stores in the neighborhood as the lot development stalled, the grocer is still interested, Tunney said.
The property has gone through years of false starts since the 2005 fire, with foreclosures, lost financing, and lawsuits popping up among previous owners, including former Mayor Richard M. Daley's nephew Robert Vanecko and his business partner Allison S. Davis, according to previous reports.
Developers even went as far as presenting a development plan for the property, but it fizzled. Currently, a parking lot spans the otherwise busy block.
It's been a "labor of extreme patience for neighbors who live around the facility there," Tunney said.
He told the neighborhood group members he would "hopefully be working very closely" with them on "a plan for full-service grocery store on the site."
