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Differing plans for Walgreens & Hancock Fabrics site on Broadway

November 1, 2011  /  By

Hancock Fabrics on Broadway. Credit: Lyle Bright

No one will argue that the retail site of Walgreens and Hancock Fabrics at Broadway and Glenlake is outdated, actually that is probably an understatement. A developer has submitted a proposal to redevelop the site, however it differs greatly with ideas submitted byEESP ( Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Project); a committee of ECC ( Edgewater Community Council).

Most notably, the biggest difference is the “urban” versus “suburban” feel of the plans. One limits parking spaces but provides adequade parking near the rear of the site, is more pedestrian friendly, and minimizes curb-cuts. The other major differenciator is new consturction vs. trying to preserve buildings such as the Hancock Fabrics building, which was originally built as a Studebaker auto showroom in 1923. Take a look at each plan (click them to enlarge) and let us know what you think in the comments.

 

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  • Anonymous

    i definitely prefer the EESP plan.

  • Brotr10

    Crossroads doesn’t really look that different from what is there now. My real question is… is Hancock Fabrics staying?

  • Anonymous

    I prefer the EESP plan.

  • Bob Schwartz

    I like the idea of retaining and the adaptive reuse of the old auto showroom.

  • Gabi

    I prefer the EESP plan too and would really prefer that they keep the old Studebaker building!

  • Lauren

    Wasn’t Thom Greene involved in the “vingettes” put together by the Friends of the Park for the new and improved plans for extending Lake Shore Drive?

  • Oelgun

    EESP Plan all the way! We do not need more traffic on Broadway! This is an urban and pedestrian friendly neighborhood, let’s keep it that way!

  • I like the crossroads one better. All of the buildings in that shopping area are old and impractical. As much as it would be nice to keep the buildings they are not practical for the use.

    • Jaquil2

      How are they impractical?

      • Becky

        The buildings are small and constantly in need of repair. during the winter they are always freezing, no matter how much heat is cranked into them, the electrical work has to be 40+ years old.

  • Mike

    I like the Crossroads plan.

    • I agree.

      • resident

        Both plans include a new Walgreens.

      • Jaquil2

        A big enough selection of what?

        • Becky

          Food Items, Health Items. you know… Basics…

    • Hazelg

      I agree completely, and Trader Joe’s can continue to expand where they wish too.

      • Becky

        Exactly! They aren’t any better then dominicks and they charge even more.

        • Badresa

          again, I disagree. the last time I spent $60 at Domincks I came out with two plastic bags of groceries. not the five full paper bags I get at TJs.

          • Becky Sibio

            I didn’t say they were any cheaper. Aldi’s is cheaper. $60 is a lot of money for some of us.

          • Badresa

            and five full paper bags of groceries is a lot of groceries. you are saying Trader Joe’s charges more than Dominick’s and that is just not true.

  • Dorothy Parker

    Of course I want to support EESP, but my questions to make this decision is

  • We need a Walgreens? That’s sarcastic, right? We already have three Walgreens, two CVSs, and two Jewel/Oscos within about a 15-minute walk of each other.

    How’s’about that long-delayed, long-rumored, and desperately-wanted Trader Joe’s instead of another G-D drugstore?!

    • Can’t you get the message?

      • Becky

        yeah, I don’t know about the rest of you, but Aldi’s is a lot more in my price range (and a lot of the people I know in this area’s price range) then trader Joe’s is. Don’t get me wrong, I love trader joes, they just aren’t practical in a time when I’ve stopped going to

        • Badresa
          • Becky Sibio

            I actually either go to Aldi’s, Devon Market, or haul my butt out to Fresh Farms on Touhy & Central because dominicks and jewel are out of our budget range. I have to feed a family of 3 on about 60 a week. I, along with a lot of people around here, can’t afford organic vegetables. There are a lot of people on fixed income and low income and college students in this area, which is why aldi’s is a much better choice for this area then trader joe’s is.

          • Badresa

            You’d be able to buy organic vegetables at Trader Joe’s within your budget. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.

          • Becky Sibio
    • Laura Louzader

      I’m very envious of the TraderJoe’s/Aldi’s combo store on Clybourn.

      You will note that the ground floor of the Clarovista, where Aldi’s is located, has ample space for a similar TraderJoe/Aldi store, but we were barely able to get the Aldi’s because of obstruction by Alderman Moore, and, I feel sure, Safeway.

      • Florence Kennedy

        Nonsense.

        • Laura Louzader

          Florence, I have news for you.

          Joe Moore has actively resisted the incursion of Trader Joe’s into the 49th Ward, and he did everything he could to keep Aldi’s out. Thankfully, he failed, even though he gave it his absolute best shot, being very rude to Aldi’s representatives at the public meeting concerning the store they eventually put there.

          Joe is one of the reasons, maybe the main reason, that Rogers Park has so little decent retail and has had to pay so much for what we have, like the Pauline TIF boondogle that gave us the misconceived Gateway Center at Howard & Clark.

    • Becky

      The Drug store is already there and has been since Dominick’s moved across the street and predates both CVS locations and the Osco that was in one of the locations before CVS bought them out. (I remember when it was some crummy restaurant that my mom loved)

      For the record:

      CVS: Loyola & Sherdian Rd (rogers Park), Granville and Broadway, Foster and Broadway (not sure where more are)
      Walgreens: Glenlake and Broadway, Bryn Mawr/Ridge/Broadway, Clark and Catalpa, (More down by wiss (uptown) and one by clark and Rogers- Rogers Park)
      Doninick’s: Glenlake and Broadway, Foster and Sheridan
      Jewel: Ridge & Columbia (rogers Park) or so, Clark and Gregory, and Beryn and Broadway.

      that’s not bad considering our population density was around

  • Steven

    Broadway has always been car-centric. It was developed at the beginning of the auto age which is why the street is six lanes wide including the parking! It is never going to be a cute little shopping street like Clark on Andersonville, but it could be a thriving commercial corridor like Clybourn and North in Lincoln Park. You don’t see thugs loitering in front of West Elm and Best Buy in part because the parking lots and entrances to the store are private property. Edgewater needs to develop a similar corridor on Broadway if it wants to keep retail dollars in the neighborhood. I am not going to walk in this area and I am not going to park in an alley. Lincolnwood Towne Center and Village Crossing are not that far away. Neither is North and Clybourn. That’s what Broadway needs to compete with.

    • dunelandvirgo

      Respectfully, I lived in Lincoln Park very near the Clybourn corridor for nearly 15 years while the development was happening and it is an archaic disaster! If I wanted the suburbs and to drive a car everywhere I would have moved. There are “thugs” all over those parking lots, they are dressed differently, ask any cop, we had many problems. We live in a city it comes with the territory. Simply because Broadway has 6 lanes does not mean it needs to be the commercial catastrophe of other known areas. Actually, there is quite a bit of foot traffic for the busy street that Broadway is and I believe that traffic

      • James

        Edgewater and Broadway have been planned to death.

  • djcchicago

    Seems like adding a lot more suburban style commercial space while a big chunk of space in the Granville(Claravista?) remains empty is kind of silly.

    • Practical Shopper

      How about keeping the Cleaner.

      • Becky

        they could easily take over one of the retail slots, It kind of looks like they designed for the size of payless & the cleaners in the other two unnamed retail locations. They do a lot of business, I hope they don’t move away.

      • Badresa

        I do! I spend a lot of money at Hancock.

        • Becky Sibio

          Ideally all of them would stay.

  • Anonymous

    Please, this section of Broadway is outdated as it is, we need all the updating we can get. Make it as modern as possible without losing it’s form, I’m sure it can be done. That awning at the fabric store is such an eyesore.

  • Here we go again.

  • Eli

    Any plan that gets rid of the ugly parking lot there is great.

    Keep in mind that previous retail frontage across the street and a block south is all getting turned into new parking for the new library, so there is already going to be a big increase in the parking vs buildings ratio of this area.

    • Kc

      Totally agree. I live right there and ANYTHING would be better than what it is now.

    • Becky

      A Bar and a Hair Salon? 2 little places? They only demolished 1 small building in addition to the library. Frankly Investing in our children’s future is more important then getting your hair done or getting drunk.

      • Becky

        or maybe it was a restaurant, I know it was some sort of food/beverage place. Not like we don’t have a ton of restaurants around here either.

  • AC

    I think the EESP plan looks like it would add a lot more to the community, as there would be space for people to gather. I also like the reuse of the existing building.

    • Robert Sheridan

      Is that how we are going to clean up Thorndale?

      • NJB

        Bananas Foster is not a fair example.

        • Becky

          actually, they closed because the owner got sick and couldn’t keep the restaurant & deal with health problems. If money wasn’t an issue, they could have hired someone to run the restaurant while they dealt with the health issues.

          • LS fanatic

            It is a very severe health problem that hits very close to home. With this looming over him, his heart was not in the restaurant and that is what it takes to keep a business going.

      • Laura Louzader

        Very sad, very sorry to hear of the owner’s health issues. The place seemed to be doing so well.

      • Laura Louzader

        Would like to see the Hancock bldg torn down and replaced- see no value in the old dump. That building has no qualities that make it worthy of preservation. But the basic plan- retail fronting Broadway and Glenlake, is good.

        Thugs like to gather in places that are voids, which the Glenlake viaduct area is because the street has vast seas of parking- empty space- on either side. I only wish the Dominick’s could be rebuilt on the model of the street-friendly new store at Sheridan & Foster, as the other side of Glenlake is rebuilt. More retail fronting the street would make the area less friendly to losers who are hanging out aimlessly, in search of trouble and “biz”.

  • Laura Louzader

    I, too, prefer the EESP plan. I’d like to see the existing strip mall with Walgreen’s and Payless demo’d and replaced with a building that fronts on the street, preferably with a few floors of apts or condos above, and with all parking located behind the two buildings and out of sight.

    This stretch of Broadway is desolate and grim because it has too much “suburban” type development, too many curb cuts, and most of all too much parking and auto-centric development along the street. All drive-through establishments should be zoned out, which I believe has been done- the two remaining are “grandfathered” and will have to be replaced with more urban-appropriate development if they change hands. The stretch from Granville to Devon is especially ugly and desolate.

  • Gary Sibio

    I think you let the people who own the property decide and all the busy-bodies mind their own business.

    • Taoneil42

      Right, let’s leave it in the hands of people who don’t live in the neighborhood or care about it. It’s much better to let strangers make decisions about what would be best for our community.

      • Gary Sibio

        There’s a simple solution. If you want to decide what happens to the property, get the money together and buy it. That’s the way it works. Do your neighbor’s get to dictate what color you paint your house? Why not? They have an interest in their neighborhood, don’t they?

        • Anthony Michael McGeath

          No, your neighbors don’t get to dictate what color you paint your house. They DO get a voice in any kind of major additions to the house (e.g., an extra wing or an extra floor) or even an in-ground pool. Your neighbors have a right to voice their views when they get impacted by physical changes to the built environment. Aesthetic changes like pain color, no not so much.

  • Alan

    Broadway is a car-centric street that will not change in any of our foreseeable futures, but there is no reason why it can’t be pedestrian-friendly and humanly scaled.

  • Jaquil2

    The Crossroads Plan

  • mike

    the EESP plan, please !!!!

  • Anonymous

    There are a lot of people who believe they
    can recreate Andersonville on Broadway. Unfortunately Andersonville ain’t what
    it used to be. 10-15 years ago it was lots of small fun shops. Second hand
    stores, mom and pop businesses and a few places to eat. Now there are so many
    restaurants and bars from Foster to Bryn Mawr on Clark Street, it’s much less
    appealing to me. I only go up there now when I want to mooch around the Brown
    Elephant, go to Swedish Bakery, or buy a pair of shoes at the Alamo. Yes, I do
    go up there for a bite once in a while, but there’s not enough there now to
    interest me for long. I used to be able to waste a complete afternoon in
    Andersonville, but now I just go there to get what I need, then I go elsewhere
    to shop. And what a shame, because the remaining small business just can’t seem
    to make it anymore. I hope the pie shop at Ashland and Balmoral makes it.

    Isn’t it
    time we embrace Broadway for what it is. It’s a commercial street and we should
    have large commercial businesses on it. Yes, there are some old buildings worth
    saving on Broadway. But just because it’s an old building does not mean it is
    worth saving. Just because it was an old Studebaker dealership means nothing to
    me. There is very little architectural detail on this building, and little
    context. To the south is the Dominick’s and its massive parking lot. To the
    north, a mid-century shopping plaza with a decrepit Walgreens and Payless
    shoes. If the former Studebaker dealership had the charm and the style of the
    former Broadway Bank (now MB Financial) which was also an auto dealership,
    yeah, I’d say save it.

    If you look
    up the definition of “sustainability” in terms of urban development,
    there is a financial component to the sustainability matrix. If you cannot make
    the numbers financially, sustainability will not work. Its then becomes just a
    gobblygook jumble of meaningless buzz words.

    Every time a
    developer proposes something in Edgewater, we pick it apart until it the
    developers throw up their arms and leave.

    • Steven

      I agree. I would no sooner park behind a building in the alley in this neighborhood than a pedestrian would walk through one. Even in broad daylight. Clark Street is for pedestrians, Broadway is for cars. EESP needs to go away with its dumb, unrealistic ideas or the street will never see a retail renaissance and motorists will continue to leave Edgewater for more convenient, safer shopping elsewhere. You will never attract quality retailers to Broadway without plentiful parking out front. Ask any commercial leasing agent. Look at the existing vacancies. Are they in the strip shopping centers, or the little storefronts?

  • Becky

    All of the buildings in that shopping center are in bad shape. They barely meet the requirements for handicap

    • Badresa

      even the cosmetic fixes that were applied to make the walgreens accessible were done in a half baked fashion. the “ramp” they put in is made of asphalt and doesn’t meet the sidewalk cement evenly. my husband has a disability and complains about this “ramp” every time he goes to get his prescriptions. I like both layouts, but the practicality of building new, modern facilities outweighs any nostalgia I might feel for a Studebacker showroom.

      • Becky Sibio

        My mom is disabled too, it’s a very hard shopping area for her to get around.

  • Becky

    Also it’s up to Hancock Fabric. I know they had to close the bulk of their stores a few years ago, not sure if they are doing any better financially. I’d hate to see them go, but things haven’t been looking so good for them lately. But that’s just my speculation.

  • Landkwindy

    I hope the cleaners, Payless Shoes and Hancock fabrics will be staying!

  • Jo

    Hancock is charming and a destination place for crafters, teachers, and fashionable people.

  • ISMAEL MOUSTAFA

    Why is everyone complaining about their crummy Walgreens compared to the other ones in the area, when their is a perfectly nice CVS across the street?

    • Badresa

      It only took three months of shopping there for me to swear off CVS for good. blech.

      • Becky Sibio

        they are more expensive. I couldn’t believe it. I used to live in Vegas and they were the same price as walgreens and less of a selection. I was very

  • Brett N.

    Both plans seem to do some good things.

    • Badresa

      Brett N, do you have any photos of what’s underneath that hideous awning? I’d love to see what is so special about this horrid building.

  • Carole

    I like the EESP plan because of the building reuse and less parking.

  • Mike

    Businesses are closing in Edgewater and Andersonville. . .there are a lot of vacant storefronts along Broadway.

  • Richard Cousins

    This is great, but has anyone else noticed that Walgreen’s has a over-sized sign in Andersonville?

  • dunelandvirgo

    Walgreen’s is a nightmare! They have done very little in the Chicago area to “blend” into the neighborhoods, which sends a big message. Williamsburg, Brooklyn fought Walgreen’s and alas the giant had to make some concessions. Yes, if they are in your portfolio you are happy, however they are so stale, garish, uninteresting and out of touch with young people. Surely, a business with so many resources can attract innovative business people to keep them current? Oh, now to the point, EESP plan preferred, if you want suburbs move : )

  • Becky

    First…….This area isn’t Andersonville. That ends south of there. It’s Edgewater.

    Second…. You can like driving and still live in an urban

  • James Reed Johnson

    The Trader Joe’s brigade on here are a bit much – you’re starting to come off as rabid and irrational as gay Republicans in that you’re pining for someone (or something) that has deemed you a ‘no’, yet you persist in your blind devotion to what looks increasingly like a futile cause.

  • Marsha

    The EESP Plan should have a much longer useful life, and may esthitically prove a stronger draw than the ugly, usual suburban CVS building on the west side of Broadway. Personally, I find the Clybourn corridor ames and a nightmare to drive; haven’t been back in years.

  • Mike

    We need more clothing optional businesses.

  • Snappycappy

    My question with the Studebacker building is “What is hiding under the hideous fake Mansard Roof?”

    • Becky

      Disabled people are Lazy Urbanites? On the crossroads plan, it’s handicapped parking slots in front of walgreens. The other one didn’t even mark out handicapped spots, which is required by law.

    • Badresa
  • Beasonm

    No matter what they do, they need to maintain the building and parking lot.

  • Hweiman

    I’m a senior who has lived up here for 37 years,

  • Chgosaint

    THE EESP plan looks horrific.

    • Anthony Michael McGeath

      You have your compass points mixed up.

  • Pingback: Broadway/Glenlake Walgreens closing next week | Edgeville Buzz()



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