PORTAGE PARK — Ald. John Arena (45th) ordered that construction stop on a new Bank of America branch at Six Corners because it violates the area's designation as a pedestrian-friendly area.
Driveways and curbs built for the branch violate the rules of the city's pedestrian overlay zoning district, which is designed to ensure an area is walkable, said Owen Brugh, Arena's chief of staff.
Despite the alderman's order, work continued Friday on the building, which is the first step in a plan that will reshape the heart of the once-iconic shopping district.
Heather Cherone explains why the construction continues despite a work stoppage order:
Bank of America is working with the city Zoning Department to resolve the matter, bank spokeswoman Diane Wagner said.
Clark Street Development plans to tear down the 75,000-square-foot triangular bank branch at Milwaukee and Cicero avenues and Irving Park Road, which it bought in June, to make way for a new retail development that the firm has dubbed The Pointe at Six Corners.
But first Bank of America is building a smaller branch at 4737 W. Irving Park Road. It is scheduled to open in the fall, and 30 days later the current branch will close, Wagner said.
Clark Street Development paid $10 million for the property at the center of the Six Corners Shopping District as well as a 1-acre parking lot in the 3900 block of Milwaukee Avenue, across the street from the building, according to public records.
Discussions with Ald. John Arena (45th) are ongoing about the development plan for the site, Clark Street Development principal Peter Eisenberg said.
One of the topics under discussion is whether the project would be allowed to tap the Portage Park Tax Increment Financing District as part of the redevelopment effort, Eisenberg said.
If TIF funds are used for the project, there must be a public benefit, Brugh said.
"It is a really important redevelopment effort," Brugh said.
The firm is also weighing whether to ask city officials to change the property’s zoning designation to allow it to build a larger-scale project than would be allowed under the existing limits, Eisenberg said.
The development will boost a years-long effort to revitalize the former retail district, which once drew nearly as many shoppers as the Loop, Eisenberg said.
A 2012 city-crafted master plan identified the site as one of the keys to restoring the shopping district to a measure of its former glory.
The master plan recommends a four- or five-story building on the site, to match the height of the Sears store across Irving Park and the Klee Building, which is diagonally across Cicero Avenue.
There should be 24,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor of that building and between 50 and 75 residential units on the floors above, according to the master plan.
In addition, the development should include a 7,300-square-foot courtyard to allow a public gathering area as well new streets to chop up the massive city blocks into more walkable chunks, according to the master plan.
The project will not include condominiums or apartments, Eisenberg said.
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