IRVING PARK — Crews will begin tearing down the Ruby Dry Cleaners buildings in Irving Park this spring to make room for a new four-story apartment building with a first-floor day care.
Tiny Giants Early Learning Center owners Farah and Amir Essa closed on their $2.6 million purchase of the 2801 W. Montrose Ave. property in October. Since then, the owners have been working with Seek Design + Architecture to plan what the new building will look like, Farah Essa said.
The owners aim to create an indoor/outdoor amenity space for tenants overlooking Horner Park and they are looking at installing green roofing, Farah Essa said.
The building will have 24 apartments, which will consist of a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The day care space will be about 12,000 square feet and feature 10 classrooms as well as indoor and outdoor play spaces for about 150 children, between the ages of infant through pre-kindergarten, she said.
The corner lot is over 24,500 square feet and sits across the street from Horner Park. There are multiple buildings on the site, including the former home of Ruby Dry Cleaners.
The owners aren’t seeking a zoning change for the building.
The property enrolled in the state’s remediation program in 2018, according to records with the Illinois EPA. The new owners are continuing to clean the site, Farah Essa said.
Demolition will begin this spring with the goal of construction beginning in the fall. The new day care will be ready to open by the start of 2026, if not sooner, while the apartments will continue to be built out, Farah Essa said.
The previous owner of the site, Jae Choi Kim, one of Ruby Dry Cleaners’ owners, tried to sell it to an affordable housing developer, saying the plan would fulfill her dying father’s last wish. That fizzled after neighborhood opposition to the proposal and the former developer not being able to secure competitive affordable housing tax credits to build the project.
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