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CHICAGO-The emerging residential neighborhood just northwest of the Loop is getting its first grocery store. Jewel Food Stores, Inc. has agreed to build a 52,000-sf Jewel-Osco outlet on 2.6 acres on Kinzie Street between Union Street and DesPlaines Avenue, provided it gets $4 million in tax increment financing to help offset construction costs.
The $19.2-million store will be built 24 feet above grade to accommodate a future high-speed rail line connecting Downtown with O'Hare International Airport. That requires building on 90-foot caissons, which adds $2.5 million to the cost, says department of planning and development project manager Kathy Caisley. In addition, Jewel Food Stores has agreed to build a parking deck over existing Metra commuter rail tracks, which adds another $1.5 million to the cost, Caisley says. The parking deck was a late addition to the plans.
After building the store on land it is acquiring, Jewel Food Stores will likely sell it off and lease it back, Caisley told the community development commission, which endorsed the tax increment financing Tuesday.
"Without this assistance, the developer would not realize an adequate rate of return and not go through with the project," Caisley says. As it is, Jewel Food Stores emerged after plans for a Home Depot were nixed by the city as well as opposed by at least one neighbor, Blommer Chocolate Co., she notes.
The site's attraction is a built-in residential market with the Kinzie Station development as well as other recently constructed or planned projects. The store is expected to employ 44 full-time and 156 part-time workers, Caisley reports.
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