UPTOWN — A massive storefront at Montrose and Clarendon avenues has sat vacant for two years after the Treasure Island grocery chain that was supposed to move in went out of business.
But a new grocery is set to take Treasure Island’s spot. It will open its first Chicago outpost in the process.
The store, Peter Rubi, will open next year at 811 W. Montrose Ave., the company announced on its website.
Peter Rubi is a husband-and-wife-owned grocer focusing on fresh produce and goods, according to its website. Its only other location is in southwest suburban Plainfield.
The grocery store will occupy ground-floor space in the 811 Uptown development that was slated to house a 30,000-square-foot Treasure Island grocery store.
Treasure Island was announced as the building’s retail tenant in 2017, a year before the development was finished. But in September 2018, the local grocery chain announced it was going out of business.
The retail space has remained vacant since.
Across Clarendon Avenue, retail space also built as part of the 811 Uptown development was occupied this year by Comcast and a veterinary clinic.
It is unclear how much space Peter Rubi will occupy. A company representative did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
The 811 Uptown development delivered 381 apartments to the Clarendon Park neighborhood in 2018. It was controversially financed with nearly $16 million in funds from tax increment financing.
To receive the funding, 811 Uptown developers JDL Development and Harlem Irving Companies agreed to pay $4.6 million toward the renovation of the Clarendon Park field house. That $13 million project is underway.
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