by BRIAN NADIG

The construction of a fast-food restaurant with a drive-through facility is being proposed for the parking lot of the Seafood City Supermarket, 5033 N. Elston Ave.

The project’s developer has not publicly announced the name of the restaurant because plans have not been finalized, said Dana Fritz, and aide for Alderman Margaret Laurino (39th).

Laurino held a community meeting on the proposal in February inside the Elston Place Market Mix, an indoor mall that is part of the Seafood City complex.









The proposal calls for the 2,400-square-foot restaurant with a single-lane drive-through to be constructed along Elston and for a designated walking path to be installed in the parking lot, connecting the grocery store to the restaurant.

Plans also call for the 500-space parking lot to be remarked so that there is no reduction in the number of parking spaces after the restaurant were to be built. Additional landscaping for the site also is planned as part of the project, which requires an amendment to the site’s planned development ordinance.

The same architects who designed Seafood City and the nearby Edens Collection shopping center, which is under construction at 4635 W. Foster Ave, would design the proposed building.

The Seafood City building on Elston was previously occupied by Kmart and Venture department stores. The supermarket opened in 2016 and is the only Chicago area store for the California-based chain.