The community meetings about the proposed redevelopment of the former Mars Wrigley candy factory site in Galewood have been put on hold for now, as Ald. Chris Taliaferro, the Galewood Neighbors community group and developer McCaffery Interests try to figure out the best format to get community feedback.
Taliaferro, whose 29th ward includes all of Galewood, held three community meetings last December with another meeting scheduled for Jan. 27. But the day before, Taliaferro announced that the meeting was “postponed.”
The three sides agreed that the town hall-style format used for the earlier meetings wasn’t the best way to get feedback.
“The feeling was, to have another town hall, at least in this format, doesn’t accomplish much, because it caters to the people who want to heckle from the back of the room,” said Steve Green, chair of Galewood Neighbors.
The stakeholders are currently considering a workshop format, or some other format that would involve developing concrete suggestions for how the development plan might be improved. That would require bringing in an organization to facilitate the workshops, and the meetings won’t be scheduled until they figure out those details,
The Mars plant at 2019 N. Oak Park Ave., opened in 1929. In 2022, the confectionary giant announced that it would close the factory by the end of 2024. It contracted Local Initiatives Support Corp. Chicago to come up with a community-driven plan for the property’s future. During several in-person and virtual community meetings, residents developed a plan, which was released in 2023.
That plan called for a mixed-use building at the northwest corner of the site, green spaces that included local farms farther east along the tracks and in the middle, and a business park at the northeast side of the property to make up for some of the job losses caused by Mars’ departure. The historic Mars office building, which has been designated a city landmark, would become part of a larger community center, and town homes would be built on the southeast side.
After the plan was completed, Mars chose McCaffery as a developer, but it hasn’t relinquished the ownership of the property.
The proposal McCaffery presented in December largely followed the community plan. McCaffery Interests CEO Dan McCaffery said that the Chicago Department of Planning and Development vetoed the business park, and that they would build senior housing at the northeast corner instead.
Over the last 10 years, Galewood saw several major development proposals that included some combination of multi-story rental apartments and retail. The redevelopment of the former Sears location at the northeast corner of North and Harlem avenues, and former U.S Bank site at 6700 W. North Ave., are the major examples. The propoals usually attracted opposition from residents who pushed for single-family homes or condominiums, arguing that apartments would increase crime and create quality-of-life issues.
Residents also objected to building height and density, and raised concerns that there wouldn’t be enough parking. The developers tended to reply that they were proposing the kind of development that was popular with young professionals who are less likely to own cars and wanted to leave near transit.
The same dynamics played out during the Dec. 3 community meeting. The residents who spoke also insisted that they weren’t aware of the LISC planning process, and said they felt that Galewood residents weren’t consulted. The meeting got heated at times, with some speakers accusing McCaffery of trying to bring “Section 8 housing” to Galewood. While the City of Chicago Affordable Requirements Ordinance would mandate that the developer make some units affordable, as defined by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, those units wouldn’t be part of Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.
Taliaferro didn’t respond to Austin Weekly News’ request for comment. But according to his announcement and Green, the three parties met virtually the weekend of Jan. 24-25 and agreed that a town hall approach wouldn’t be productive.
Green said that the three parties broadly agreed that they had to bring back LISC or some other group that would serve a similar function.
“It’s been three years since those LISC meetings happened” Green said. “People move away, new people come in, people forget, real estate market changes. And we need to, not start over, but refresh the conversation, so we can come to a community-based decision.”
He said that when the next meeting will depend on when LISC, or whichever organization they bring in, would be available.
Green, a realtor and a Galewood resident since 2011, felt that some backlash was inevitable. But he believed it was still possible to move forward.
“Any new housing is frowned upon, especially in Galewood, when it’s highly dense,” Green said. “Anything other than [single-family homes] is frowned upon, and we understand that concern. But we need to have a community-based conversation, and the community-based discussion, and the meetings we’ve had thus far is some people trying to talk, and McCaffery trying to respond, and a lot of yelling and hecking for the back of the room.”
