by BRIAN NADIG

Two homes at 4712-16 W. Pensacola Ave. were recently demolished to allow for the possible expansion of Omega Yeast Labs, 4739 W. Montrose Ave.

The homes were located behind Omega, a local yeast manufacturer for commercial and home brewers. No zoning change would be required for the project because the site of the homes is zoned for manufacturing uses, said Omega owner Lance Shaner.

Omega acquired the houses about a year ago. “One of the houses demolished has been vacant for decades and has a long history of transients and drug use. The other house had severe structural issues,” Shaner said in a statement.

Any expansion would include extensive landscaping along the rear wall facing the residential properties to the south, and there would not be an entrance along south wall, Shaner said.

Omega opened in 2013 at 4727 W. Montrose Ave. and relocated a few years later to its existing facility, which was once home to Air-Mite Devices, a maker of air presses. The site, which is near the Mayfair Metra Station at 4357 N. Cicero Ave., includes a parking lot that is located across an alley from the rear of the building.

Omgea’s products are sold in home brewing shops across the country.

Shaner, a home brewer himself, has said that one of his long-range goals is to open a taproom inside Omega’s facility where visitors can sample various microbrews.







