McDonald’s will open a restaurant and drive-thru at 1606 N. Mobile Ave., the site of the long-vacant Walgreens in Galewood. While the project has been contested since McDonald’s started eyeing the site in May 2023, according to one neighbor, McDonald’s paid a couple of residents as compensation for the drive-thru.
The Walgreens was closed in the summer of 2015 and ended up in foreclosure in 2022. It served as a COVID-19 testing site at the height of the pandemic but has remained vacant besides that.
When developers unveiled the idea to turn the vacant building into a McDonald’s, many neighbors express concerned over the traffic implications.
The site is between Narragansett Avenue and the spot where Ridgeland Avenue becomes Mobile Avenue. Traffic can be a problem at that intersection, as cars traveling north typically turn from Ridgeland to Narragansett, plus there is a bus turnaround used by Pace bus route 311 and some rush-hour CTA Route 72/North buses on the west side that wraps around a Dunkin Donuts location.
The lot is also partially raised, which means the developer is limited to the access point on Mobile Avenue.
For a short period of time in September 2023, there were temporary plans for a pickleball coach to take over the building and turn it into indoor pickleball courts. However, he pulled out after realizing he would need to spend around $100,000 on a brand-new ventilation system.
Austin Weekly was directed by the office of Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward) to go to the City of Chicago’s Department of Buildings records for permit and development information but has been unable to acquire anything.
The Oak Park general contractor, CDO Group, was also contacted by Austin Weekly for information on the permits obtained and development plans but was told they were unable to speak on the matter yet, out of respect for the client.
The most up-to-date development plans known to Austin Weekly are the December 2023 revisions, including a 4,000-square-foot building with 47 parking spaces, drive-through lanes that can accommodate up to 17 cars at the time, a 6-foot-tall synthetic wood fence on the north side and trees planted on the other three sides of the property.
Previous plans had the two ordering lanes in the front and pickup in the back; however, the plan was to flip the configuration, and the garbage receptacles were moved away from homes.
According to Athena Williams, a neighbor of the site and executive director of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, in order to get the neighborhood on board, McDonald’s paid compensation to two or three households.
Williams said many of the residents on the block behind the site on Mobile Avenue signed a petition against it but were not granted the opportunity to speak at a Zoning Board Meeting.
“When you had 40 other people on that particular block that were against it, that’s problematic,” Williams said.
Someone from Ald. Taliaferro’s office said they were unable to speak on the claims made by Williams; however, they could tell Austin Weekly that the current building will be torn down.
Williams said she stopped following the development after finding out about McDonald’s payments, but she has been a strong proponent against putting a McDonald’s there.
At her previous residence, she lived next to a McDonald’s and said she had multiple issues with them.
“McDonald’s is not the best friendly neighbor when it comes to residents,” Williams said. “It was constant issues, constant problems.”
While currently there are no McDonald’s in Galewood, Austin has three at 5133 W. North Ave., 5015 W. Madison St. and 5153 W. Chicago Ave.
“We definitely want economic development in our communities,” Williams said. “But we have to be strategic about what that economic development looks like.”
Fencing with hazard and construction signs have been erected along the perimeter of the property as of Aug. 6.
Emma Bradford is an intern for NEWSWELL CHICAGO through Report for America’s Local News Internship Program.