The cafe will be built on a former used-car lot that has been vacant since 2013 after being home to car dealerships since the 1940s. [DNAinfo/Heather Cherone; submitted photo]
NORWOOD PARK — Construction started Tuesday on the first-ever Starbucks in Norwood Park, officials said.
The 2,150-square-foot cafe at 6340 N. Northwest Highway near Harlem and Devon avenues will include a drive-thru lane and 23 parking spots, said developer Lee Wolfson of the firm Arthur Goldner & Associates.
The cafe will be the first Starbucks in Norwood Park.
"We're very excited to finally make this happen," Wolfson said.
The cafe will open early next year, according to a statement from a Starbucks spokesman.
The cafe will be built on a former used-car lot that has been vacant since 2013 after being home to car dealerships since the 1940s. The Starbucks is set to open on the western edge of the Norwood Park business district, just blocks from a Dunkin Donuts cafe.
[Arthur Goldner & Associates]
Starbucks will share the development — and the parking lot — with another tenant, which will occupy a triangular building set to be built on a grassy portion of the now-vacant lot, Wolfson said.
A tenant for that building has not yet been announced, Wolfson said.
The plan for the drive-thru Starbucks was endorsed by the 41st Ward Zoning Committee, which makes recommendations to Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st) on whether projects should be granted special permission by city officials and built.
With Napolitano's support, the city's Zoning Board of Appeals approved a permit for the drive-thru lane in June.
The full-size Starbucks, which will feature indoor seating, will also include an "enormous" patio, Wolfson said.
"It will be great for residents in the area," Wolfson said.
Cars will be allowed to enter and exit the Starbucks' parking lot from Northwest Highway and Harlem Avenue, according to plans approved by city officials.
The drive-thru will have enough space for 11 cars to wait for their Frappuccinos without backing up traffic to the Metra tracks, Wolfson said.
The Norwood Park Starbucks could be the first of three to open on the Far Northwest Side.
Plans to transform a parking lot at 4151 N. Cicero Ave. into Portage Park's first Starbucks are making their way through the city's approval process with the support of 45th Ward Ald. John Arena.
Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th) held a meeting in June about proposal for a second Starbucks on Portage Park's western edge at Irving Park Road and Central Avenue.
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