PORTAGE PARK — Redevelopment plans for the former Peoples Gas site near Six Corners have been finalized and are ready for community input again.
GW Properties, the company that proposed the Shops at Six Corners project at 3955 N. Kilpatrick Ave. in 2020, plans to host a community meeting in early January to show neighbors the latest project renderings, said Mitch Goltz, principal and co-founder of GW Properties.
The date has not been set yet, Goltz said. Plans will be unveiled at the meeting.
The company, which has developed other Six Corners buildings, wants to bring a large retail and residential development to the lot. Previous plans showed the project would have 110 apartments, an Amazon Fresh grocery store, a Burlington clothing store and a Panera Bread restaurant with a drive-thru, as well as 10-14 local and national businesses with five retail buildings that could also house offices and restaurants.
The new renderings, at least the project’s third iteration, include a “meaningful residential component and a new retail plan along Irving Park Road,” Goltz said.
Developers have worked for more than a year to finalize the revisions to be more in line with neighbors’ desires after many criticized the $80 million project in October 2021. Neighbors at the meeting said developers were proposing more than 300 parking spaces but not enough public space or residential units.
“We believe that this should be well received and result in a project that will bring in the desired residential and retail elements for this site,” Goltz said of the new plans.
Neighbors and community groups have said they want more density, integrated parking and less retail, similar to what developers are bringing to Sears and The Clarendale projects at Six Corners. Some other neighbors previously told Block Club they welcome the project as it will bring in more retail and revitalize the shopping corridor.
The developer needs a zoning change to move forward with its latest plans should the community and alderperson approve them. That zoning change will trigger the city’s revised Affordable Housing Ordinance, which went into effect last year. It calls for large-scale developments that require a zoning change to have at least 20 percent of its on-site units designated as affordable.