Former West Side Aldi To Become Affordable Apartments With Restaurant, Grocery Store
WEST GARFIELD PARK — The city has selected a development plan to replace a shuttered West Garfield Park Aldi, bringing to the site an affordable apartment complex that will include a restaurant and grocery store.
Development group Westgate Partners has been chosen to replace the former Aldi at 3835 W. Madison St. with a five-story building containing 55 affordable apartments, a ground-floor restaurant and a 10,400-square-foot grocery store, the city’s Department of Planning and Development announced last week.
A public plaza and 72 parking spaces for residents and customers are also included in the plans.
The new development will replace an Aldi that closed abruptly in 2021, leaving 15,000 residents without access to a local grocery store and further exacerbating food deserts on the city’s West Side.
After the grocery store closed, the city bought the property and launched a request for proposals to redevelop the site. That process ended with two proposals, of which the Westgate Partners’ plan was selected.
“It’s going to be an exciting revitalization for a key corridor and a block that has several under-utilized properties,” said Peter Strazzabosco, deputy commissioner at the Department of Planning and Development. “It’ll add another grocery store option for area residents, provide density, put eyes on the street and create a ton of affordable housing.”
In addition to the former Aldi location, the city is also in the process of acquiring Madison Discount Muffler, an auto shop at 3801 W. Madison St., as part of the development site, Strazzabosco said.
Westgate Partners is a partnership of three local, Black-owned development firms: TRUdelta, CBBC and East Lake.
“We believe that the talent right here in our community should lead in making the change we all want to see, and know when we have the right partners, real changes are possible,” Westgate principals said in a 2023 statement about their proposal. “We see a thriving Black Business corridor on Madison. We see safety, opportunity and shared prosperity. We see excellence in a bright Black Future.”
The Department of Planning and Development selected Westgate’s project “due to the team’s composition and experience, including minority and community-based representation, and the project’s financial viability and design,” Strazzabosco said.
With an estimated cost of $45 million, the project is proposed to be funded by up to $20 million in Tax Increment Financing funds and/or Housing and Economic Development Bond funding, $690,000 in Neighborhood Opportunity Fund proceeds, low-income housing tax credits and New Market Tax Credits.
The development could create 250 temporary jobs and up to 20 permanent jobs, according to the city.
The Westgate project was chosen over the “Garfield Gather” proposal, which called for an $86 million, two-building development with 101 affordable apartments, a grocery store and a large plaza.
The Garfield Park Community Council has been advocating for development of the site since the 2021 Aldi closure, pushing for the city to acquire the property. The community council also co-chairs the Sankofa Wellness Village’s Community Grocer Initiative, which will select the grocer for the Westgate development, alongside West Side United.
“We’re encouraged to work with the Westgate development team,” said community council President Mike Tomas. “We’re excited about their interest in the community actually owning the commercial space, the community where the grocery store would be at.”
The Westgate project now will go before the Community Development Commission in the coming months before being introduced to City Council.
The Garfield Park Community Council will host a community dinner 5:30 p.m. Nov. 21 at St. Michael Missionary Baptist Church, 4106 W. Monroe St., to discuss the project.
