Westgate is the name of a $45.3 million development that was selected for its design on the site of a former Aldi at 3835 W Madison St. on Chicago’s West Side. On Nov. 7, the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) selected the proposal for the mixed-use development project in West Garfield Park. The development is to feature a five-story building with 55 affordable housing units, a restaurant and a 10,000-square-foot space for grocery store.
No grocer has yet been revealed to occupy the space.
The project will “go through the City’s formal review and approval process for the purchase of the land and potential incentives,” according to Peter Strazzabosco, deputy commissioner of the
DPD.
Jim Mjenzi, managing partner of TruDelta, the team leading the Westgate project, said the development creates a new opportunity for “the most important business corridor on the West Side of Chicago.”
“We look at the site as a way to be able to activate the Eastern book end of the corridor so that we could start to stabilize the corridor, but also to be able to create and calibrate change, cultural change,” he said.
The team behind the project also includes Citizens Building a Better Community; Black-owned development company, East Lake Management and Development Corp; community development firm, Project Forward and architects Valerio and DeWalt Train/Latent Design.
“The goal with Westgate is for community members, specifically African Americans, to be able to continue to build their capacity through a community lens and using, like, a community model so that we could be the change we want to see in our communities,” said Mjenzi.
The project is one of two developments proposed to replace the Aldi that shuttered abruptly in 2021 which left neighbors shocked and angered.
“Ever since that point, there has been action around watching what would happen with that space,” Ayesha Jaco, executive director of West Side United, told The TRiiBE. “We’ve never stopped watching, advocating, [and] planning so that when future investments come to that former Aldi site, [they] will restore a grocer in there.”
Jaco was part of the team behind the other proposed development — named Garfield Gather —for the site that wasn’t selected. She said fighting to get another grocery option at the site was important to community residents because of the limited options in predominantly Black areas.
“It is disheartening to see those sorts of investments kind of close up overnight,” Jaco said. “A lot of times, our communities often get options that people are not happy about. So if you look across Englewood, Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Austin, and ask people what the premier store is, or a store they feel good about going into to get fresh produce and those sorts of things, I think that people would not be happy with the options.”
The site currently sits empty as the building was demolished by May 2024, according to Google Street View.
West Side United is providing support for the Westgate project along with the Community Grocer Initiative (CGI), which focuses on bringing access to healthy and sustainable food accessibility for all. The CGI has been led by Angela Taylor, wellness coordinator of the Garfield Park Community Council, who has worked to bring fresh food options to the area through initiatives like the Garfield Park Neighborhood Market.
“I’m proud of the work in Garfield Park to raise awareness and stand on business about demanding an option or that [Aldi] be restored,” Jaco said about the movement of the former Aldi.
Aldi recently announced it will open a new location in West Loop after signing a 15-year lease at a soon-to-be-built mixed-use development. The new location comes as the company plans to spend $9 billion to expand and add 800 stores by 2028. The chain also abruptly closed a location on 115th and Halsted in West Pullman.
“When you think about the West Loop, it’s typical,” Jaco said about the Aldi announcement.
“If you compare the options there, you’ve got Whole Foods. You’ve got a few other options in between that are proximal,” Jaco said. [There’s] a saturation of that type of option, versus places like Garfield Park that have a higher saturation of food and liquor stores or other options that are not optimal.”
Representatives with Aldi did not respond to a request for comment.
“Unfortunately this Aldi situation isn’t the beginning, and apparently not the end, of what disinvestment is looking like in a food desert, a community where economic racism and economic inequality continue,” said Carlos Nelson, president of the economic development agency Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC).
In 2022, Aldi closed unexpectedly in the neighborhood at 76th and Ashland in Auburn Gresham, the site has since been converted into a beauty supply store called Beauty Empire Chicago.
Ald. David Moore (17th Ward), whose ward includes the shuttered Aldi, said that the owner of the property tried to hold out for a grocery bid but found a business to lease to pay their bills.
“I’m disappointed, the owner of the building did everything we asked him to do, he held off for a long time trying to find a grocery store replacement,” Moore told The TRiiBE during a City Council meeting last month. “There was a smaller grocery store on 79th and Vincennes that was supposed to expand and they wanted to do a larger grocery store. They got into conversations. I think some financial things went wrong.”
According to Moore, the beauty supply was able to replace the South Side Aldi because they both have similar zoning codes, which don’t need City Council approval to move along.
Though no grocer replaced the shuttered Aldi, the area has been expecting the opening of a “reimagined” Save-A-Lot store. The site is expected to open “in the next few months,” said Khayeem Anderson, program manager at GAGDC.
The anticipated store at 7908 S. Halsted is a collaboration between the organization and Yellow Banana, which owns and operates more than 30 stores under the Save-A-Lot name. The store, which was originally projected to open in 2023, has been continuously delayed due to issues related to theft and “inflation and COVID-related issues,” Anderson said.
Anderson is also hopeful for a newly announced community-owned grocery store named K Fresh Foods that has been proposed in Auburn Gresham. The community grocery store concept would replace a 6,000-square-foot vacant liquor store at 8105 S. Halsted. The market is a concept from a nonprofit called The Kindness Campaign.
“K for kindness, which is representative of what the movement for community-owned development here in Auburn Gresham looks like,” Nelson said about the significance of the project. “[It’s] an African-American gentleman and his organization resurrecting a building that was once a liquor store on Halsted and that will be opening up, providing fresh foods and opportunities to improve the health and wellness of our community.”
The nonprofit currently operates the 75th Street Fresh Foods Market at 703 E. 75th Street in Greater Grand Crossing, providing free grocery options once a week, according to its website.
Kathryn Welch, executive administrator at GAGDC, said having choices in every community is important.
“We definitely need choice, any other vibrant community wants choices for a grocery store,” she said. “The West Loop, I’m sure they have an abundance of choices, and we want the same thing in Auburn Gresham.”
