GARFIELD PARK — City officials are inviting West Siders to weigh in on a planned multi-use development that includes a grocery store along a block-long portion of Madison Street and Hamlin Boulevard.
The city’s Department of Planning and Development will host an open house for residents 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday at Legler Library, 115 S. Pulaski Road. Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) will attend, according to a city flyer.
Neighbors have pushed to build another large grocery store for the community, which has been largely a food desert since Aldi, 3835 W. Madison St., closed two years ago. After organizing from community leaders, the city bought the supermarket in December 2021 to create a new grocery store there.
At a community meeting in April, two competing development teams pitched neighbors on their plans for a new store on Madison Street. The two teams are Community Builders with architecture firms Canopy and Brook Architecture, and WestGate Partners with the firms Valerio Dewalt Train and Latent Design.
Canopy is a Chicago-based architectural firm that focuses on designing affordable homes with a positive environmental impact. Brook Architecture, also based in Chicago, designs homes and commercial properties such as Roosevelt Square on the Near West Side.
Valerio Dewalt Train has designed various projects ranging from academic buildings such as the Gordon Parks Art Hall to housing in Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and Palo Alto.
Latent Design is a Chicago-based firm that focuses on urban design in underserved neighborhoods. The Forty Acres Fresh Market in Austin was one of its projects.
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