If, like us, you have been waiting patiently for the demise of one of Uptown's most unsightly strip malls, today was your day.
The project by Mavrek Development is known as Forty Five-01. It is being built as of right and will feature rental units. It replaces a particularly unsightly strip mall that, paired with the strip mall directly north, has been a dreary stretch of Uptown for many years.
While Clark Street is garnering headlines, the Clarendon Park section of Uptown is also hot, with this development, the upcoming 4600 N. Marine (where another reader writes she saw construction vehicles earlier today), the senior affordable housing development at 835 W. Wilson and 4447 N. Hazel, which is set to start any day.
It's a great time to be in Uptown.
A number of years ago, I was there at the scene of a shooting and I spoke with one of the gang members living nearby. I expressed frustration about the senseless violence occurring between the 2 gangs at that strip mall, and he told me it was because the other gang was jealous because they played basketball better. I told him I didn't believe him because I already knew it was related to the drug sales occurring mostly within the laundromat inside that strip mall and on Windsor. He then told me he would tell his gang to quit selling drugs there if it was going to make me upset, and I thanked him but we both knew it wasn't going to stop. I later got some neighbors on Windsor to agree to call 911 when they saw drug dealing and then text me afterwards. I would then go out and let the gang members know that the neighbors were watching their every move, and it might be in their best interest to stop their drug activity in that area. I always carried pamphlets with me to give to the gangs about job opportunities for people with felony arrests, and some would take me up on my offer to get help. I would even offer to drive them out to the agency to get help.
ReplyDeleteThere was also a health clinic that was on the NE corner of Windsor/Sheridan where people went to get "prescriptions" for pain. I took a video of people waiting outside to purchase their doctor's prescription, and then spoke to the doctor and afterwards reported his license. Two of the people in the video took me up on my offer to walk them to Heartland Health to address their issues related to pain. The doctor was later arrested and I was subpoenaed to testify against him. He was sentenced to serve 6 years in federal prison. Here's the video I took that was later used as evidence in his arrest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS895iiNAIg
This area is still not perfect, but the difference between 10 years ago and now is night and day.
Mr Alderman,
DeleteYou have the potential for quite a memoir.