Two Chicago buildings — including one of the city’s last large-scale candy factory — were recommended for landmark status Tuesday, during Ald. Walter Burnett’s (27th) first meeting as the new zoning committee chair.
Mars Wrigley’s distinctly designed candy factory in Galewood and the former Jackson Storage and Van Co. warehouse in Little Village will go before the full City Council for a final landmark approval.
Mars Wrigley’s Spanish Revival-style factory, 2019 N. Oak Park Ave., is where staples like Milky Way and Snickers bars were invented. If landmarked, only the front portion of the structure would be protected, according to the city’s Department of Planning and Development staffer Kandalyn Hahn.
Mars Wrigley’s parent company, Mars Inc., recently entered into an agreement with Chicago-based McCaffery Interests to purchase the property. McCaffery will soon kick-start conversations with Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) and community groups about the 20-acre property’s future. The factory will cease operations around the end of the year.
When the factory was built in 1929, it was Mars’ headquarters and sole manufacturing facility. The Austin Co. was the original architect, but in 1960, C.F. Murphy Associates — the firm behind projects like the Daley Center — designed an addition to the factory.
McCaffery hopes to have plans ready for city approval next year, CEO Dan McCaffery previously told the Sun-Times.
The Jackson Storage and Van Co. warehouse, at 3609-3611 W. Cermak Road, was recently purchased by Theatre Y. The ensemble-based theater requested the landmark designation and is rehabbing the building with plans to use it as a community theater. The warehouse was built in 1927 to store household goods.
Outside the old Jackson Storage and Van Co. warehouse in Little Village, 3609 W. Cermak Road.
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It’s a “really rare example of Venetian Gothic architecture in Chicago,” said Matt Crawford, of the Department of Planning and Development.
“It’s [in] amazing … condition for a building of this vintage,” Crawford said. “It’s been reasonably well-cared for.”
More housing and retail
The zoning committee also gave the OK on the redevelopment of the former home of Affordable Portables and Dunlay’s in Lincoln Park, which has been largely unused since the businesses closed in the 2010s.
Developer Howard Weiner, principal at Chicago Development Partners, is proposing a seven-story, mixed-use building at the site. The property would have 3,600 square feet of ground floor retail and 66 apartments. Most of the units would be high-end one-bedrooms, according to Ald. Timmy Knudsen’s (43rd) office.
The development would have 20% affordable units on-site, in line with the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance.
Knudsen said there’s a lot of interest in that corner, and Weiner has been receptive to community feedback. There’s still plans to commission a traffic study.
“I’m very excited about this building,” Knudsen said. “I hope it sets a tone for Clark Street, that Clark is open for good buildings and business, and I’m excited about the future of this corridor and our ward.”
A two-building apartment project in North Center was also approved, with about one-third of the estimated 200 units marked as affordable. One building will have market-rate apartments while the second building will offer affordable units for survivors of gender-based violence and their families.
One part of the project will repurpose and expand Fifth Third Bank’s building at 3959 N. Lincoln Ave. into a five-story apartment building with 64 affordable units. The units will include one-, two- and three-bedroom options, according to a presentation given to the Chicago Plan Commission last month.
The other portion along 3926-3948 N. Damen Ave. will be a new seven-story, market-rate apartment building with 130 units. There will also be 54 parking spaces and 5,000 square feet of ground floor retail.
Ald. Matt Martin (47th) said there’s long been a vision for redevelopment at the site, and it will be a critical project for the community. Supportive services at the site will include child care and employment services.
“It’s going to provide a stable base for survivors of gender-based violence and their families to rebuild their lives in the longer term,” Martin said. “My understanding is this is the first opportunity in the city to have permanent supportive housing, specifically for families recovering from gender-based violence, and I certainly hope it’s not the last.”