Store owner shot & killed during robbery in Park Manor

[VIDEO] A store clerk was killed in a shooting Friday afternoon when his store on the first block of 71st Street was robbed. As always be careful out there thankfully four suspects have been arrested. Two of those suspects are in the hospital for gun shot wounds.

More from Chicago Sun-Times.

And as always be careful out there. 

Proposed entertainment complex coming to South Shore

This isn't the first time we've heard about a new theater coming to 71st/Jeffrey. I first got wind of it in 2016 and the plan was the preserve the former HQ of ShoreBank and the former Jeffrey Theater. Then later it was reported that those buildings would have to be demolished to build the new theater.

Now this new Cinegrill being developed by ICE Theaters owner Alisa Starks expects to open in June 2020. This is according to the Chicago Citizen:

Located inside the former Urban Partnership Bank Building, 7054 S. Jeffrey Blvd., will be Cinegrill, a 50,000-square foot development that will house a seven-screen theatre with chef-designed cuisine, a bar, reclining seats, and seating capacity between 38 and 75; Odessa’s

Kitchen, a Creole-inspired restaurant seating up to 105 people; AJ’s, a four-lane bowling alley, equipped with multiple big screen TVs, a lounge that serves alcohol and appetizers, and offers table games like checkers, chess and backgammon. The last component for the development will be Penthouse 71, an events venue that can accommodate up to 225 people, and will include an outdoor patio for up to 85 people. A parking lot for the multi-entertainment center will be built at the corner of 71st Street and Bennett Avenue.

Construction is expected to begin later this year with a goal of opening June 2020, according to Starks.

“ICE is launching a new development, blending a variety of entertainment and dining targeted to sophisticated, urbane adults and leveraging a fast, growing trend of successful ‘eatertainment’ brands from Dave & Busters to Punch Bowl Social,” explained Starks.

We'll see if Starks will make good on the open date for next year. The new cineplex was proposed to have opened last year as well. 

CBS Chicago: Protests Continue Over Police-Involved Shooting

[VIDEO] This report was shot today from CBS 2. When the shooting first happened there was a protest brewing right on 71st & Jeffrey. If you click this link you see the police having to push back the crowd in a report from ABC 7. It looked like it was getting ugly. Today those protests continue. 

ABC Chicago: Protests erupt after man fatally shot by police in South Shore

You might have seen some posts on our FB page about this on Saturday night. Either a live video as the protests happened or another video from Chicago Sun-Times regarding a police shooting and then a scuffle as a result between demonstrators and police. You will see that in the report from ABC 7. Tense moment in South Shore near 71st Street & Jeffrey Boulevard!

Found this late on Sunday also from ABC 7, we have the identity of the man shot by police. And in the embedded vid below we have body cam footage from police officers. You don't see anything graphic at least, but you see what events led up to the shooting.

Chicago police released body camera video on Sunday of the fatal police shooting of 37-year-old Harith Augustus, which sparked a night of protests in the South Shore neighborhood.

Supt. Eddie Johnson said he made the decision to release the video "because the community needs some answers and they need it now." He said he wanted to clear up misinformation about the shooting.

After the shooting, crowds gathered near where the shooting occurred Saturday evening at 71st Street and Clyde Avenue. Four police officers injured and four protesters arrested. Protesters threw rocks and bottles at police officers and jumped on squad cars, damaging two vehicles.

Here's the corresponding video report.

 

Also just think this made a UK news outlet even if it wasn't yet updated with more current information such as the deceased man shot by police. Though what you see there is the man in question was a known barber.

WGN: Shop owners threaten to close over uptick in violence in Park Manor

Earlier this week WGN did a story which quoted Haim Brody of Market Fisheries, 6th Ward Ald. Roderick Sawyer, and Park Manor neighbors Pres. Darlene Tribue over shooting incidents near 71st/State. The concern, the businesses are losing money because their customers are often afraid of their safety. It's hard to have a thriving business sector if business owners are losing money because the areas where they set up shop are unsafe.

Let's allow Mr. Brody to explain:

Haim Brody, the president of Market Fisheries, says his family has owned the popular fish market on 71st and State since 1957. But now he fears he may have to leave because of escalating violence, drug dealing and harassment of customers.

"We've had four shootings here in the last four days," Brody said. "It's just impossible to do business. We have open drug dealing on the street, open drug dealing, many numerous transactions here; we have little children walking to school have to go through all this stuff."

In scenes captured on tape, shoppers and community members walking near 71st St. are forced to take shelter or run away when shots ring out. Brody says 16 people have been shot on this block alone since the beginning of the year, and it's starting to take a toll on the businesses around him. He and other business owners along 71st St. are fed up.

And Ald. Sawyer let's us know what's being done about it:

"I want answers, but I know one thing: there's a cancer over there that we need to get cut out real fast" Ald. Sawyer said. "We're adding, beefing up patrols in the area and let's just say we do have ongoing, undercover operations consistently."

Here's hoping for some solutions soon! 

You might have seen something here on this blog about Market Fisheries before.

6th ward shred-a-thon #6wardchicago #twill

Coming this Friday in the parking lot at 215 W. 71th Street from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM contact the 6 ward service office at 312.635.0006. Here's an ig post from the the alderman's office.

A post shared by 6 Ward Chicago (@6wardchicago) on May 15, 2018 at 11:03am PDT

Corridor Convo for 71st, 75th, 79th & Cottage Grove April 14, 2018

This evite was posted to our fb page yesterday and is worth sharing. Just remember at the end of January all the bloggers was there for the launch of Chatham Center Chicago. The latest concept to market Chatham and promote local businesses. It doesn't hurt that this launch was held at our newly revitalized local movie house.

• Date and Time
   Saturday, April 14, 2018
  10:00 AM – 12:00 PM CDT

• Location
  Urban Partnership Bank
  7801 South State Street
  2nd Floor Conference Room
  Chicago, IL 60619

Please join us on Saturday, April 14, 2018 to hear creative ideas for how to bring more vitality and opportunities to Chatham Center Chicago commercial corridors in the Greater Chatham area. In January of 2018, the Greater Chatham Initiative invited UIC urban planning and policy students (College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs) to conduct a studio course about revitalizing commercial corridors. Over the last 3 months, these 17 students have collected data and conducted fieldwork to assess conditions. The students have prepared short presentations to share their ideas for how the corridors can be improved. You are invited to see their ideas, and share your feedback. The event is free but registration is strongly suggested.

It seems a former owner of ICE Theaters is back with a proposed theater development

I had been a bit hard of Ms. Alisa Starks during this past summer. Back in 2015 Starks - who with her late husband Donzell Starks owned ICE Theaters - proposed a theater, restaurant, and retail to be located at the former main branch of Urban Partnership Bank. Incidentally that branch also contained the facade of the former Jeffrey Theater.

In any case there was nothing but questions with regards to her plan such as whether or not ICE Theaters was involved - since sometime that year that company had filed for bankruptcy. Then recently more news on bringing a development to 71st & Jeffrey:

Alisa Starks, who developed movie theaters in Chatham and Lawndale, said at Tuesday night’s 5th Ward meeting that she plans to demolish the former Urban Partnership Bank at 7054 S. Jeffery Blvd. and build an entertainment center

Starks, who lives in the Jackson Park Highlands area of South Shore, bought the building in 2015 for an estimated $307,500, according to county property records, and she originally planned to maintain the building and build a movie theater and bowling alley.

“When the architects got in they said we couldn’t use the building as is, so we’re going to demolish it,” Starks said.

While I'm disappointed that they won't use the building as is, the proposed new building looks great.

Going further:

The three-story building will be topped with an events venue designed by 555 International, the Chicago firm that designed Girl and the Goat and GT Fish and Oyster. The first two stories of the building will be focused on the theater, which will serve food and beer and wine, and the restaurant, which Starks said already is developing a Creole menu.

If it seems early to be thinking about the menu before any work has begun, it’s a sign of the aggressive pace Starks said she wants to hit after two years of planning the project.

Starks said she wants to open next summer. The next step will be to get zoning approval from the city. If there is a mild winter, demolition will begin sooner, Starks said.

Here's hoping that this concept does get off the ground!

6th Ward Shred-a-thon tomorrow

6th Ward Shred-a-thon
Parking Lot
215 W. 71st St.
10 AM to 1 PM
for residential only - not for businesses

Refer to the ig post from Ald. Sawyer's office below however for more information feel free to call them @ 773.635.0006

An interesting proposal for the former UPB branch/Jeffrey Theater

UPDATE 11:25 AM - I apologize, failed to give this post a title!

7054 S. Jeffrey Blvd

Through NextDoor I found a DNA Info article regarding Alisa Starks making a pitch to the South Shore community regarding the former Urban Partnership Bank branch located at 7054 S. Jeffrey Blvd. It sounds like a good plan:

Alisa Starks, who developed movie theaters in Lawndale and Chatham, has been brought in by Monroe Investments to revive the bank at 7054 S. Jeffery Blvd. that closed in 2014.

At a 5th Ward meeting Tuesday at the South Shore Cultural Center, Starks presented a rough idea for the 46,000-square-foot bank that included a four-screen movie theater on the main floor, a six-lane bowling alley in the basement and a kid-friendly restaurant and play area on the second floor.

“It’s designed to be a boutique theater, think Hyde Park’s Harper Theater,” said Starks, who said she was alerted to the bank’s potential by one of her South Shore neighbors.

She said the first floor would also include a Cajun restaurant called Odessa with live jazz and blues run by the chef from the now-closed Epiphany Bistro in Lincoln Park. 

The former UPB branch - and longtime hq for the defunct Shorebank - had been closed since 2014. The space also includes the facade of the former Jeffrey Theater. It would be very cool to redevelop that site and it could be a movie theater again and revive this corner now that a important business anchor had left. There's just one problem.

This article is almost two years old. Published in August 2015 and during that month Starks' ICE Theaters had filed for bankruptcy. Of course this is not to say this wouldn't be a successful venture and that this project genuinely caught the entrepreneurial eye of Ms. Starks.

Not mentioned in this article was ICE Theaters other than the fact that the Chatham 14 was sold by the Starks and ultimately that venue is under the ownership and banner of Studio Movie Grill. So no indication of this development on Jeffrey becoming an outpost for ICE Theaters.

Now, it's about to be summer 2017, which is the expected opening date for this venue. One wonders if there are any further updates about this development or even a grand opening. In the meanwhile it's safe to say this space remains shuttered and there is also a shuttered grocery store just across the street still looking for a tenant.

Finally here's a recent picture of 71st/Jeffrey taken from the J14 bus on the way to downtown Chicago. I could be wrong but there's no evidence of any development here. Perhaps Ms. Starks wasn't able to make this development happen during the course of the last two years.

71st/Jeffrey

DNA Info: Alderman Wants to Bring Coffee Shops, Bars to Desolate State St. Stretch

When Alderman Sawyer first got into office in 2011 he was talking about the need for businesses around the 6th ward's L stops. So would developing a business strip along stretches of State Street would help in that effort.

Ald. Roderick Sawyer dreams of bringing coffee shops, restaurants and bars to a desolate stretch of State Street in the neighborhood where he grew up: Chatham.

By doing so, he hopes he can transform and revive the once-vibrant community by persuading the younger generation to remain in the neighborhood — and even coaxing young families to move here.

“We still have young people who aren’t choosing Chatham as a destination place to live, even though I think we have decent housing stock, because we don’t have the stuff they like,” the 6th Ward alderman said.

Sawyer has targeted the strip between 69th and 79th streets, the site of many empty storefronts, vacant lots and few thriving businesses.

Last week, the City Council Committee on Zoning approved Sawyer's request to rezone State between 76th and 77th streets to allow retail. He also is working with the Chicago Department of Transportation to make the strip more walkable and pedestrian-friendly.

Well there is plenty of room for redevelopment between 69th and 79th Streets. What would you like to see along that stretch of State Street?

DNA Info: South Shore Dominick's: City Council OKs Use of Eminent Domain

Former Dominick's 71st/Jeffrey - Eric Allix Rogers/flickr

So now the shopping center at 71st/Jeffrey in South Shore is now subject to eminent domain takeover by the city of Chicago. Now it's the city's problem to figure out who might fill the space formerly occupied by the Dominick's chain - which is owned by Safeway who opted to vacate their Chicago area stores last year.

There's been some difficulty in finding another grocer to take this spot. We've often heard that the Mariano's chain growing in the area after Dominick's departure isn't interested in this location but is looking at other spots in the South Shore area.

The current owners claimed per DNA Info that they had been close to signing a deal with a Puerto Rico based grocery chain. However there are those dismiss this company because of allegations that they stole electricity at this chain's Virgin Island stores.

So the question is will the city prove to be more successful at finding a new tenant for the Dominick's store than the owners of this property?

Sun-Times: Hairston demands Emanuel do more to replace shuttered Dominick's

71st & Jeffrey by Eric Allix Rogers/flickr

It's really unbelievable that the former Dominick's in South Shore still hasn't found another tenant. The space is located at the shopping center on 71st/Jeffrey.

While the Mariano's chain is coming close with a store coming to Bronzeville and another coming to the Lakeshore development on 87th Street they're not interested in the former Dominick's space. Could this become a campaign issue for Mayor Emanuel at least for constituents in South Shore?

 Although one positive development yesterday in addition to voting to raise the minimum wage in Chicago, the city council also voted to acquire the 71st Street Dominick's space. That still didn't serve to appease 5th ward Ald. Leslie Hairston:

South Side Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) said she wants Mayor Rahm Emanuel to summon the CEOs of major grocery chains to a meeting and demand that somebody — anybody — fill the gaping hole at 71st and Jeffrey Boulevard that Dominick’s left nearly a year ago.

“It’s very difficult for the mayor to say he’s doing enough when he’s announcing grocery stores all over everywhere except in the place that needs it the most,” Hairston said.

“He knows people. He could do more. I need him to do more. It will be a year in a few days. It is a black mark on him. Absolutely. It says that he doesn’t care. I want him to use the power that he has as mayor of the City of Chicago to spur economic development in South Shore, just as he’s done in the South Loop. Whatever he has done in all of those other situations, I expect the same here.”

Hairston was asked whether the vacant store two blocks from her home would cost Emanuel votes in the Feb. 24 election.

“Well, he’s already lost support because it has remained vacant. He’s got to earn that support back,” she said.

There is one update on a future Mariano's in South Shore according to this article: "On Wednesday, Hairston said she’s heard from Mariano and he’s ready to talk about other sites — but not at Jeffrey Plaza."

So we should open up the floor here. If a Mariano's were to come closer to our part of town where would you like to see it?

WBEZ: Why does South Shore still not have a grocery store?

71st & Jeffrey by Eric Allix Rogers/flickr

[AUDIO] While it seems Mariano's is interested in moving to South Shore in the near future, we still have a storefront that one housed a major grocery store that remains vacant. Mariano's snatched many former Dominick's locations throughout the Chicago area so far seems unwilling to snatch up the former Dominick's space at 71st & Jeffrey.


WBEZ presents this write-up and the audio which is embedded below

Here's an excerpt of the write-up

South Shore organizers are taking steps to make sure that happens. They’ve hosted several community meetings, circulated a survey and met with city officials. In some ways their fight for a grocery store is part of a larger struggle playing out across the city. The intersection of race and retail often leaves African-American consumers short on access to goods and services. Even basic ones like where to shop for dinner.

This is especially true on the South Side where many neighborhoods, regardless of income, are food deserts. Juxtapose this with some areas on the North Side awash in grocery stores. Recently, residents of Wicker Park rejected a new Trader Joe’s due to traffic concerns.

Over the past decade, more grocery stores have opened in Chicago overall. But many on the South and West Sides feel left out when their only nearby food options are discount chains.

“On the South Side of Chicago in general, we experience retail redlining. There’s a certain kind of marketing. When we talk about institutional racism, it’s the dismissal of communities that have income and that expendable income,” [South Shore resident Anton Seals] said.

South Shore is a dense, truly mixed-income neighborhood. Mansions and multi-unit apartment complexes share alleys. The community has a median income of $28,000 but there are thousands of households earning more than $75,000.

Also:

Mari Gallagher is a researcher and expert on food access issues and said South Shore has really been a misunderstood market for a long time.

“There’s a lot of buying power in South Shore. And I know from the research and I know anecdotally people who live in South Shore who go all the way down to Roosevelt Road or Hyde Park to do their shopping. There’s a lot of leakage, money leaving these neighborhoods,” Gallagher said.

She said black Chicago has long struggled to nab quality retail. Billions of dollars leave the community each year and are spent in other neighborhoods.

“And it’s not necessarily because they can’t support it as a consumer base and certainly people do eat as part of the human condition,” Gallagher said.

Target Market News is a consumer research group that tracks black spending and found that black households traditionally outspend whites and Latinos on fruits and vegetables and items that have to be cooked to be eaten. In the Chicago area they spend approximately $240 million on fresh produce annually.

“So why do certain neighborhoods have quality grocery stores and other neighborhoods have none or just very very few, perhaps one?” Gallagher said, adding that changes in the grocery industry perpetuate this gap.

Lots of questions but so far no solid answers. All we know about Mariano's is that their CEO Bob Mariano doesn't like the 71st & Jeffrey location. And perhaps there are some issues with the owner of this property who reportedly lives in Los Angeles or with the property itself. Beyond that why is no other grocer interested in this location?

 We've had people share their thoughts on this subject I hope someone out there has something new to report or opine.

DNA Info: South Shore Mariano's Possible, But Ex-Dominick's Site No Good, CEO Says

Vacant 71st/Jeffrey space by Eric Allix Rogers/flickr

Even though just last week Mariano's announced their going to build on land that was once home to a large steel mill on east 87th, it seems the question of the former Dominick's space near 71st/Jeffrey refuses to go away. Mariano's CEO Bob Mariano passed on the space but will still tour city owned lots in South Shore with 5th Ward Ald. Leslie Hairston to find an appropriate spot for another Mariano's store. In the meanwhile Mr. Mariano's justification:

“It’s the location,” Mariano said about passing on the former Dominick’s at Jeffery Plaza, 7131 S. Jeffery Blvd. “It’s not the neighborhood.”

Mariano made his remarks last week, just before announcing plans to open a new Mariano’s location in South Chicago.

He also said he thinks the parking lot is the wrong size for the 65,000-square-foot store, he believes the entrances and exits to the parking lot don’t serve the store well and he did not like that the Metra tracks passed in front of the store on 71st Street.

“We’re not going to bring a store to the neighborhood that is below the standards of Mariano’s,” Mariano said.

On top of this Ald. Hairston added:

On Tuesday, Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) said she was aware of Mariano’s objections to the former Dominick’s location.

“Do I think Jeffery Plaza could be updated? Absolutely,” Hairston said. “But you’re not going to get rid of the trains.”

She said the city is still actively negotiating with several grocers to the move into the Dominick’s, which closed Dec. 28. She said she is also still courting Mariano’s to move to South Shore.

So where could they bring another Mariano's on this part of town? I could compare this to the two Walmarts located nearby us one on 83rd and another on 111th. While the one on 111th had been approved first the one on 83rd was completed sooner because the site was already set up for a store to be built. The site near 111th well they had some work to do before all was said and done.

This would be the case for Mariano's on the former steel mill site. Could they possibly find a site within South Shore which is ready made for a store much sooner that the store coming in 2016?

Update on BBQ's on the Public Way

This past Monday July 7, 2014 at the Park Manor Neighbors community Council(PMNCC) monthly meeting the issue of BBQ's on the public way was addressed. Two businesses were singled out about this issue. The Goal Post lounge on 71st and Luversia's Soul Food on 79th. Residents let owners of both businesses that they did not want businesses BBQ on the public way unless there was a special event and proper permits were obtained. The resident's wishes were backed up by Alderman Sawyer who had previously addressed the business owners. The owner of the building that houses the Goal Post, and who is applying to transfer the license to him, stated it would not happen in the future as well as he would address other issues with the lounge. The owner of Luversia's stated he did purely for marketing as his business has suffered from the negative publicity surrounding 79th.

DNA Info: Mariano's South Shore? Alderman Taking Grocery Store Boss on Tour

Bob Mariano w/ Mayor Emanuel - DNAinfo/Ted Cox

What figures in this story is the fact that while the Mariano's grocery chain has expanded aggressively in the Chicagoland area and has taken over many former Dominick's locations they also haven't moved into the spot at 71st & Jeffrey that used to be a Dominick's. Now Bob Mariano - who is the CEO of the company that owns the Mariano's chain - is taking a look at South Shore:

Bob Mariano said Monday he'd be touring the South Shore area in the coming weeks to explore whether it "makes any sense" to place a new Mariano's outlet there.

Mariano, chief executive officer of the Roundy's supermarket chain and head of the Mariano's stores in the Chicago area, made the comment after addressing the City Club of Chicago in a lunch speech Monday.
...
"We're scheduling a meeting with Ald. Hairston to drive her ward in the near future, so that's being worked on right now," Mariano said. "We'll listen to what she's got and we'll see if it makes any sense.

"We've got to go into the neighborhood, drive the neighborhood together and see her vision and her ideas and see if they fit with ours," he added.

Hairston's office confirmed a tour of the 5th Ward is being planned with a date to be determined.

Mariano, however, would not comment on news reports that have Mariano's showing an interest in the former U.S. Steel factory on the South Side, saying only, "We'll have something to say about that in the future."

Mariano stressed the notion of "community" in his remarks to the City Club.

"For us, it's about one thing — community," he said. "We stress in each one of our stores, we are a community."

He said the chain emphasizes "the groundedness into the neighborhood, into the community," adding, "Your store is your community."

If he's not at all interested in the 71st/Jeffrey space, perhaps he'd be interested in the former Sears store @ 1134 E. 79th St. and I'm sure there are other locations on the south side where he could place a store.

I hope that there is press on this tour, that would be some good coverage.

DNA Info: South side Dominick's site owner claims he's not blocking new tenants

71st/Jeffrey Dominick's by Eric Allix Rogers/flick

In this recent DNA Info article we finally hear from the owner of the development at 71st/Jeffrey where since last year a space that was once home to a Dominick's store has remained vacant. Many in that part of the city wants to see another grocer set-up shop there however that has taken more time. The Dominick's grocery chain had shut all of their locations down last December.

The owner of Jeffery Plaza said he is trying to replace the shuttered Dominick’s in his mall as quickly as possible and rejected Ald. Leslie Hairston’s (5th) and other city officials' claims that he is blocking tenants from moving in.

“We want to fill up the space as soon as possible at a cost that is justified,” said Shervin Mateen, CEO of Cannon Commercial.

At a Tuesday meeting, Hairston told South Shore residents that Mateen “only cares about his profit,” and was not cooperating with leasing the former grocery store at 71st Street and Jeffery Boulevard.

On Thursday, Mateen, speaking from his office in Los Angeles, said he was “shocked and puzzled” by Hairston’s comments.

Mateen said the company is currently in negotiations with four grocers to take over the space, including Ultra Foods, but first needs to convince Dominick’s to give up or pay out on its lease, which runs through May of 2015.

“No matter what other decisions we want to make, they have to approve it,” Mateen said. “They have the keys to the site.”

Representatives from Cannon said they are working with Dominick’s parent company, Safeway, to give up the space, but the company has been moving slow because it is currently being bought by Albertsons.

A representative of Safeway was not available to comment.

DNA Info: South Shore Residents Demand Action on Last Unclaimed Dominick's

2101 E 71st St via DNA Info

So now this former Dominick's located in South Shore near the shopping center at 71st/Jeffrey still remains without a tenant the only former location without a tenant in the city and the nearby residents are concerned. Many of the other former Dominick's locations are soon to be Mariano's, Whole Foods Market, or Jewel - besides it was in the news that Jewel will acquire more former Dominick's locations.

Residents of South Shore are still wondering what will replace the shuttered Dominick's in Jeffery Plaza, the chain's only remaining location yet to be sold in the city.

And one member of the mayor's hand-picked task force charged with tackling the problem said Saturday community members should not wait around for an answer.

The Rev. Jeanette Wilson, of Rainbow PUSH, called her appointment to the task force a "paper title" and said the group has met twice since it was formed in December.

Wilson spoke Saturday afternoon during a meeting hosted by the Planning Coalition at the South Shore Cultural Center.

The South Shore Dominick's is the last unclaimed store in the city, one of 15 that closed its doors last December after the chain announced it was leaving the area.

Last week, Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) told South Shore residents seven grocers had declined to buy the store. Hairston, whose ward includes Jeffery Plaza, cited four reasons the site has been slow to sell: amount of investment needed to improve the store, surrounding competition, community demographics and store profitability.

City officials have said any buyer will have to invest about $6 million to update the 65,000-square-foot store, and Dominick's' parent company Safeway has the space leased through May 2015.

So, if you have a potential idea for who should come, well this site has plenty of rejections already: "City officials have reached out to Whole Foods, Treasure Island, Ultra and Mariano's among other chains, and all have declined to lease the location."

Let's not get entirely cared away, there is already a Jewel store located at 75th & Stony Island. On the other hand as stated in this article "retail attracts retail". Hopefully the former grocery store can attract a chain to this former Dominick's store. What would you like to see take up this space.

Hat-tip Curbed Chicago!

Who's buying Chicago-area Dominick's stores?

2101 E. 71st St. by DNA Info's Quinn Ford

Crain's recently shared a Google Maps graphic of all the Chicago area Dominick's stores and what their current status is. It was in the news recently that Whole Foods Market will take over some of Dominick's former locations. This is of interest because at the moment the one that closed in South Shore located at 2101 E. 71st St. - blogged here in December - remains vacant waiting for a new store to set up shop. Anyone in South Shore have an idea who they would like to see take over that spot?