A "For Lease" sign is now up in the old entrance to Popeyes in the Wilson L. It is nice to finally see these spaces being marketed by Jones Lang LaSalle. Not much work is going on in the interiors and no visible work has been done on the exterior of the historic station. On the other side of Wilson, scaffolding is still up on the storefront next to the auxiliary entrance. We hope the facade is saved and repaired and then reinstalled. The terracotta looks to be in decent condition.LET THE WORK BEGIN, PLEASE!
Ah yes....the epicenter of the worst of Uptown.
ReplyDeleteI really hope something good happens here. And while this is a stone's through from the 46th Ward Office..this corner has remained toxic for years.
sorry, i mean 'throw'
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that they would redo the station in such a way that the former entry to Popeye's would be the station's main entrance. Does anyone know what the renovated station will look like?
ReplyDeleteIt makes a LOT more sense to make this the main entrance to the station, though I doubt it's going to happen...I'm just glad that goddamn Popeye's is gone.
ReplyDeleteThey need to clean out that block before anyone rents there...there's pigeon shit all over the sidewalk and newspaper boxes, not to mention the various drunks and rejects reeling around. About a year ago, on a Sunday afternoon, I watched a man piss on the big picture window and scream at the Popeye's manager, "Yeah, now you go call da cops! Call da cops!" while a bunch of the Wilson Men's Hotel denizens cheered him on.
If they leave it looking the way it currently does, they are only going to attract the same low rent tenants. You can't ask for market rate rent to bring in decent retail when the place looks like a complete dump.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to wonder if that 3 million in TIF funds is only going towards the rehab of the CTA building across the street.
Someone suggested a while ago that they turn this spot into a mini-police station.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a terrific idea!