by BRIAN NADIG

Alderman Jim Gardiner (45th) will hold a second community meeting on the mixed-use proposal for the former Sears department store site, 4730 W. Irving Park Road, in the heart of the Six Corners shopping district.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, at the Copernicus Center, 5216 W. Lawrence Ave.

“Due to audio difficulties at the last meeting held at Schurz, I have decided to move this meeting to Copernicus,” Gardiner said in a Facebook posting.

Gardiner’s posting did not indicate if there have been any changes to the proposal from when it was presented the community meeting on Dec. 17. At that meeting the 10-story development proposal called for 421 apartments, 13 townhouses, a health club, retail space, a parking garage and a public plaza.

The overall concept of the project was well-received at the meeting, but several audience members asked for the project to be scaled back in size and height and for more green space and pedestrian amenities to be included in the development. Portions of the existing Sears building would be preserved with plans for a 10-story building to be constructed on the northern half of the parcel.









The height would be about 120 feet, about 15 feet shorter than the stalled 10-story senior housing proposal for the former Bank of America site across the street at 4747 W. Irving Park Road.

Plans call for the Sears site developers, Tucker Development and Seritage Growth Properties, to pay about $4 million into the city’s housing fund, allowing for a partial buyout of the city’s affordable housing requirement. In all 11 of the required 43 affordable units would be built, but some residents at the meeting called for a higher percentage of apartments to be affordable.