

4-17-13

The former Bank of America site at 4901 W. Irving Park Road was sold last month to a development entity that includes the owner of the Aurora-based Cerrmak Fresh Market.

Cermak has stores in Illinois and Wisconsin. The sale also included a former tire center at 4943-45 W. Irving Park Road that the bank owned and which has been vacant for more than 10 years.

The former bank building, which is located at the southwest corner of Irving Park and Lamon Avenue, has attracted the interest of several grocers due to its block-long parking lot in the rear of the site and a smaller lot at 4915 W. Dakin St. Two years ago a developer announced plans for an Aldi’s grocery store to open on the first floor of the building, but the project never materialized.

Alderman John Arena (45th) has said that he would like to see the bank building, which includes a 300-seat theater on the second floor, preserved. Any commercial re-use of the site would require a zoning change because the two parking lots are zoned residential.

Bank of America also has expressed interest in selling the site of its nearby facility at 4747 W. Irving Park Road. Bank officials have said that they would like a smaller branch to be part of a larger redevelopment on that site.



