After years of delay made longer by a political changing of the guard, the “eyesore” of a hole in Chicago’s once-thriving, Six Corners shopping district may finally be filled.
The City Council’s Zoning Committee on Tuesday cleared the way for construction of a $130 million project called “The Point at Six Corners.”
The 10-story complex at the corner of Milwaukee and Cicero Avenues and Irving Park Road includes a 258-unit residential building for senior citizens, 215 parking spaces and a 45,000 square-foot retail complex anchored by an Aldi grocery.
In April 2019, the Zoning Committee stalled approval of the project in a parting shot at outgoing Ald. John Arena (45th).
That parliamentary maneuver by now-former Ald. Marge Laurino (39th) gave incoming Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th) an opportunity to negotiate a series of changes that, he claims, will make the project better.
Instead of 98 independent living units for seniors, Gardiner got 114 independent units with a corresponding drop in assisted living units from 114 to 95. And instead of no affordable units on site, there will be 11.
“Why is that important? It’s because, as you can see right now, businesses are dying and they’re struggling. I knew that, if we had a greater number of dependent living [units], that our businesses were gonna continue to fail,” Gardiner said Tuesday.
“By having independent living people in these units, we’ll have people who will be able to cross streets like Irving, Cicero and Milwaukee to go get a hamburger or go see a movie or go to a bar. It’s very important for our community to have that type of energy because we all know there’s people well into their 70’s who still like to go out and enjoy themselves, if not their 80’s.”
Gardiner said he is “most proud” of the 11 affordable units to be built on site. He noted market-rate rents will range from $4,000-to-$7,500-a-month.
“There were zero affordable units on site. And the community was told by my predecessor that it was an impossibility to put affordable units on that site. I was able to fight for and get 11 affordable units when we started off with zero. Now somebody, instead of paying $6,000 a month, is paying $1,200 a month,” the alderman said.
Gardiner acknowledged the giant hole in the ground has been an “eyesore” and that the $130 million project will be “instrumental in redefining and rebuilding Six Corners” to bring vitality back to the once-thriving area.
Mayor Lori Lightfootonce angered Gardiner by rewarding Arena with a six-figure job in the Department of Planning and Development that lasted only a few months.
Asked last year whether she would allow Gardiner to block the Six Corners deal, Lightfoot replied, “The alderman overstates his ability.”
On Tuesday, Gardiner stopped short of claiming victory in a test of Lightfoot’s threat to follow through on her promise to eliminate aldermanic prerogative over zoning.
“I think she probably didn’t realize or maybe she didn’t fully understand what I was fighting for,” he said diplomatically.
“Once I had the opportunity to tell her exactly what I was fighting for — for affordable housing, for more independent living units — she had a better appreciation and a better respect for what ... I was doing and what I accomplished.”
