Check out the Facebook Event for more details!
To sign up just send name, address, email to sheridanparkyardsale@gmail.com.
To get your name on the map, you must be registered by Thursday, July 31!
Neighbors living between Montrose and Lawrence, and Broadway and Clark fall within the Sheridan Park boundaries.
Courtesy of a reader, we saw the last elements of Dear Flo's being ported away yesterday morning.
The front patio space, which made its debut with the former Kal'ish, was one of the last elements remaining from the three former restaurants that occupied the space (Kal'ish, Sephardic Sisters, Dear Flo's).
When we broke news of Dear Flo's apparent demise last week, the Instagram page was still up and accessible, but that is gone is well, all but confirming that Dear Flo's is no more.
It's a great space and a wide sidewalk, so we are hoping for a new tenant soon!
P.S. - ICYMI, there's a new Italian restaurant (Piacere Mio) replacing the former Longacre / Floreen's space as soon as late summer.
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| The side yard of 4616 N. Magnolia (Real Estate Listing) |
"A potential buyer of 4612 N. Magnolia is seeking a zoning change to re-zone the property from RS-3 to RT-4 in order to build a six-flat at the location of the current side yard of 4616 N. Magnolia. The side yard is currently owned by the owners of 4616 N. Magnolia, and the sale of the side yard is contingent on approval of the zoning change. The existing building at 4616 N. Magnolia - which is beautiful! - would not be impacted by the development.
The proposed development would include six for-sale condo units - four simplex units on the second and third floors and two duplex-downs on the first floor - and six parking spaces. If a zoning change is not approved, the most likely development on this lot would be two single family homes. As the development falls beneath the 10-unit threshold, no affordable units would be required.
The Ward Office will hold an online public meeting with the developer on Thursday, July 17 from 6-7 pm. The development team’s proposal will be available on the 46th Ward website next week.
The feedback form will be open from Thursday, June 10 to Thursday, June 24 - if you have any questions or comments before then, please reach out directly to the Ward Office via phone or email."
Of note, the property, which never officially hit the market before sale, is being sold for $1.325 million.
Soon, the first Chicago location of Forest Park based Piacere Mio will occupy the former Baker & Nosh / Longacre/ Floreen's space spanning from 1303 to 1307 West Wilson. Architect Joel Berman (Big Jones) is handling the interior.
Courtesy Piacere Mio website
We have been watching construction on the space for a couple of months. A kitchen is currently being built in the west portion of the space (essentially where the bakery portion of Baker & Nosh was located), with a bar and tables occupying the eastern portion.
Piacere Mio is a relatively new restaurant but comes from deep roots in Italian cooking. Co-owner and head chef Jose Marquez was for many years the head chef at former Forest Park Italian stalwart Gaetano’s.
Expect handmade pastas, wagyu beef meatballs, some delicious looking desserts, and other treats. Menu at the Piacere Mio link above and pictures on their Facebook page. We are especially looking forward to trying the coconut limoncello!
Reviews of the Piacere Mio Forest Park location and Jose's former restaurant (Gaetano's) look incredibly promising.
With construction and permitting factored in, we don't expect the restaurant to be open until late summer at earliest, but we are looking forward to a long run in the space for Jose and Francisco. We will for sure be visiting the patio as soon as weather allows!
Dear Flo's, Andy Kalish's latest attempt at a restaurant in the old Ka'lish space appears to be no more.
Closure appeared to be a sad inevitability once operations became spotty over the last couple of months, but we were hopeful this new restaurant would survive. The food was good!
Our team first got wind of changes a couple of weeks ago when a tipster sent a photo of a handwritten sign taped to the Dear Flo's window to our inbox.
It's unclear whether the restaurant reopened last weekend after two weekends closed for "Summer Break." However, a reader sent a tip yesterday evening that the restaurant appeared empty.
We asked a different reader/tipster to send photos depicting the current state of the restaurant space. Those photos appear to confirm the observation that the space was emptied out.
Both readers report art has been removed from the walls and today's tipster says the refrigerator was completely cleaned out.
Over on the Instagram page, it appears the hours section has been replaced with "Closed."
Andy and Gina can cook, there is no doubt about that. Their food was great, no matter what they tried to do, but the hours at each of the different restaurants were always wonky. Judging on comments to this blog and Facebook, they lost a lot of goodwill with the community over the last 9 years, with frustration over hours, different concepts, and a general lack of sticking with anything for very long. Dear Flo's was the 8th different concept in the last 9 years in three highly trafficked and visible retail spaces on Wilson.
Some will celebrate the apparent loss of Dear Flo's, but we always want to see small businesses succeed. We wish Gina and Andy the best and hopefully they will be able to cook for us again in the future.
In other news, there is a new restaurant coming to the 1303 W. Wilson space formerly occupied by Baker & Nosh, Longacre, L/A Mex and Floreen's. The new restaurant is NOT affiliated with the Kalish family. More soon!
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| groundbreaking on renovations, 9/13/2022 |
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| The fieldhouse as it looks today |
It's been a long time coming, but the newly improved Clarendon Park Fieldhouse is about to become available to the community again!
Those of us who've been around a while remember the leaky roof (and resulting puddles on the floor in the rec room), the lack of ADA compliance that made the building inaccessible to some members of the community, the inadequate electrical system that made air conditioning ... er, problematic, the constantly backed-up plumbing issues, etc., etc.
But those days are behind us.
Groundbreaking on the renovations took place in September 2022, and the building has been closed to the public and undergoing repairs ever since.
The Fieldhouse was built in 1916 as a bath house for the Clarendon Municipal Beach; at that time, Lake Michigan was directly east of the building. In the 1930s, after Lake Shore Drive was built on landfill, sports fields were built on the site of the former beach.
Time took its toll:
We are so grateful to everyone who put in the time and efforts to see this project through its long renovation process, and who helped to ensure that a part of "old Uptown" survives and will be beneficial to the community well into its second century of existence.
And we also want to emphasize the importance of retired Alderman Cappleman's efforts to see this project through. From steering the Park District away from initial demolition plans to spearheading efforts to identify and source funds for renovation, Alderman Cappleman's hard work was critical to seeing this process through.
We found it very interesting that current Alderwoman Clay's announcement of the impending opening in her newsletter made no mention whatsoever of her predecessor's role, not even a thank you. Not surprising, of course, but disappointing nevertheless.
Setting politics aside, we can't wait to see all the improvements, and especially look forward to seeing the Garfield-Clarendon Model Railroad Club set-up in its new enhanced space.
Ribbon cutting is on Monday, July 7th, at 11am.
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| Delicious food offerings at Turkish Döner |
ADA compliance (finally!) New station houses! Smoother rides! Wider platforms! Covered platforms!
We. Are. Thrilled.
CTA announced in an email today:
"In 2020, we began the ambitious and historic journey to modernize our 100-year-old stations and elevated tracks to improve service for our customers, invest in your community and generate inclusive economic growth across our city.
Today, we are thrilled to announce that the brand-new Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stations will open on Sunday, July 20, 2025!
These new stations are designed to serve you better, with modern amenities including full ADA accessibility, escalators, elevators, wider platforms, enhanced lighting and security and real-time travel information displays. And with the newly rebuilt Red Line elevated track now in service, you’ll experience smoother, faster and more reliable rail service.
Read more about the new stations in our press release
This is more than a station opening — it’s a celebration of progress, community and what we’ve built together. Thank you for your patience and support as we’ve worked to modernize your Red and Purple lines.
We got there together."
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| Demolition underway at Wilson & Dover (photo by Reader JR) |
Due to no zoning change being approved with the first proposal and no zoning change requested with the latest project, no on or off-site affordable will be required.
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| Looking south from Wilson through the demo site, toward the "workforce housing" that the local block club classifies as "affordable." |
The property at 4800-4810 N. Broadway just came on the market yesterday. Link to the agent's PDF here, no price listed, sorry.
The 1914 building hasn't changed hands in long long long time, and this is a golden opportunity for the right buyer. It was part of the historic Green Mill Gardens complex (great history here, thank you Robert Loerzel) and has those Al Capone tunnels.
The lucky buyer will get a building home to a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant (Birreria Zaragoza), an internationally known jazz icon (The Green Mill) and another stalwart of the Chicago music scene (Le Nocturne).
Additional tenants include the delicious taqueria Carmela's and Rupee Wine and Spirits. There is also the potential for another music club and another potential restaurant.
Here's hoping it finds the right buyer!
