MCKINLEY PARK — More than 100 apartments, a grocery store and flexible office space are coming to McKinley Park.
Developer IBT Group LLC secured the city’s backing to redevelop a massive warehouse at 1717-1769 W. Pershing Road, officials announced last week.
The 6.5-acre site includes a vacant, six-story, 571,000-square-foot warehouse known as the Quartermaster Depot at 1769 W. Pershing Road, according to the planning department. It was built in 1918 for the U.S. Army.
The $121 million project will bring 120 apartments, a 50,000-square-foot grocery store and more than 200,000 square feet for an “innovative office hub and technology incubator” to the site.
The apartments will be a mix of affordable and market-rate and will range from studios to three-bedroom units. The grocery store will replace a one-story maintenance facility at 1717 W. Pershing Road.
There will be 120 parking spaces for the apartments and office space, and another 130 spaces for the grocery store customers and employees, officials said.
The project involves cutting out the middle of the warehouse for an interior courtyard and to bring in light, but developers will preserve the entire historical façade of the building, officials said.
Developers previously said the building would have an expansive rooftop with green space, gazebos and a running trail open to the public.
A grocery store tenant hasn’t been decided, according to the planning department.
The city received five proposals for the site in October, officials said. An evaluation committee made up of city officials and neighbors whittled it down to three, officials previously said.
Neighbors reviewed the proposals during a public meeting in March.
IBT Group’s plans ranked highest on the committee’s scoring system and placed first on a community survey that got more than 200 responses, according to the city’s planning department.
The other two proposals involved developing movie production spaces.
Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) said she’s excited to see the project moving forward.
“An adaptive reuse of the former warehouse building will not only help maintain the historic integrity of the Central Manufacturing District but also revitalize the Pershing corridor, which has been vacant or underutilized for many years,” Ramirez said in a statement. “I look forward to working with IBT Group and local stakeholders to ensure this project includes community benefits for McKinley Park and Brighton Park residents.”
The project could get financial support from the city — as much as $25 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funding pending formal review and an approval process that involves a vote of the full City Council, officials said.
A community meeting where neighbors can learn more about the project is planned for the fall, but details on when and where haven’t been announced.
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