$16M Condo, Retail Plan on Track for Norwood Park

By Mark Ruda
Globe St. Retail
January 19, 2006

CHICAGO-Zitella Development Corp. plans to replace a commercial building at 6060 N. Northwest Hwy. near the Norwood Park Metra station and replace it with a two-building, 46-unit condominium project. The $16-million development also would include 20,000 sf of ground-floor retail space.

In addition to being near the recently renovated commuter rail station, it also is next to Centennial Park, according to the Department of Planning and Development. Despite being a transit-oriented development, Zitella Development’s project includes 80 indoor parking spaces. While the proposal calls for a single three-bedroom unit, the other 45 units are two-bedroom, priced at $389,000. Designs by Architekton, Ltd. incorporated grade changes along Northwest Highway, with the retail space on the western end of the buildings at a higher level than the similar space to the east.

The 1.2-acre site is zoned M1-1, and Zitella Development is seeking a planned development with B2-3 zoning for its 100,000-sf project. Zitella Development acquired the land and 31,000-sf industrial buildings last summer for $3.6 million, according to property records, financing that purchase with a $2.9-million loan from Parkway Bank & Trust. The company also has lined up construction financing, plan commission members were told before they endorsed the project.

“It looks like a real nice project,” says plan commission vice chairman Linda Searl. “We’re looking forward to seeing it complete."