EDGEWATER — Outside a triangular Ridge Avenue building in Edgewater, posters plastered along the storefront's floor-to-ceiling windows claim that Baker & Nosh is opening — in spring 2016.
But a year since that target date came and went, the café's opening date remains unknown and its future is up in the air with little signs of active construction at the site.
Meanwhile, the bakery's planned new site in Uptown is also on hold after the city issued a stop work order on that project.
The bakery's owners did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The delays come after the popular bakery at 1303 W. Wilson Ave. abruptly closed in March after five years in business.
In a message posted on its Facebook page on March 29, owners said with a "mixture of sadness and excitement" they were unexpectedly closing in order to spend time prepping for a transition into two new locations it had announced back in January of 2016: at 4600 N. Magnolia Ave. in Uptown and at 5600 N. Ridge Ave. in Edgewater.
In Edgewater, the bakery was set to open a much bigger location and replace the former El Norte restaurant, and owners released ambitious renderings of the inside.
In Uptown the bakery was going to take the place of an old Starbucks on Magnolia.
The restaurant told customers the closing of the Wilson shop and opening of the two others "didn't exactly coincide," leading to "unavoidable and frustrating delay."
"Regretfully our closing announcement is without warning to you all," the bakery wrote. "We literally tried up to the last minute to figure out a way to stay put a bit longer, but it's time to let the new tenant take over and turn our space into something wonderful."
However, by the time Baker & Nosh authored the post, the bakery had already received a stop work order from the city to cease construction at its planned new Uptown location on Magnolia.
According to the March 11 city order, the bakery was cited for having "performed or allowed work to be performed without submitting plans prepared, signed and sealed by a licensed architect or registered structural engineer for approval, and without obtaining a permit to perform the work."
The shop was told to stop all work until it had the proper permitting to do so.
The city still lists that violation as current and a large yellow stop work order sign remains on the window.
The bakery was issued a renovation permit for the Edgewater location in November — months after it was originally scheduled to open — but little construction has transpired since then.
At the time, Baker & Nosh said "typical" delays had pushed back construction. Owners said the location would open in early 2017, but did not say exactly when.
No workers were at the Edgewater site Wednesday and sources familiar with the construction say the project is currently on hold.
Despite the bakery's announced plans, the sites are listed as available for lease on a website maintained by Cedar St., a developer which owns the two storefronts.
Cedar St. did not return requests for comment, nor did the Edgewater Development Corporation, which has been working with bakery.
A phone number listed on the city's construction permit at 5600 N. Ridge Ave. for Baker & Nosh owner Bill Millholland has been disconnected. Co-owner Terry Groff could not be reached, and a public relations firm representing the bakery did not provide comment.
A stop work order sign on the building at 4600 N. Magnolia Ave. [DNAinfo/Josh McGhee]
A stop work order sign is now on the window of Baker & Nosh at 4600 N. Magnolia Ave. is on hold. [DNAinfo/Josh McGhee]
The Edgewater location at 5600 N. Ridge Ave. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
