A proposal to fill the gaping hole at the heart of the Six Corners Shopping District with a 248-unit senior living facility failed to advance Tuesday, putting the future of the development in doubt.

Ald. Margaret Laurino (39) called for a vote to determine whether there were enough aldermen present to take action on the 10-story building set to be built at Irving Park Road, Cicero and Milwaukee avenues.

"I don't feel like there has been enough discussion on this issue," Laurino said, who left immediately after she called for a quorum vote.

After a brief recess, the quorum vote failed and the meeting was recessed.

Ald. John Arena (45) — who lost his seat in February — championed the project from the Ryan Companies that also includes an Aldi grocery store and public plaza.

The failure of the project to advance “is a blow to my community” and “frustrating,” Arena said after the meeting. 

In March 2016, city officials approved plans for a massive shopping center anchored by Ross Dress for Less and Aldi. However, that plan fell apart amid woes in the retail industry. The corner has been vacant since then, when the Bank of America branch that stood at the center of the area once known as the city’s premiere shopping destination outside the Loop was torn down.

Of the proposed complex’s 248 units, 102 apartments are designed to be part of an independent living facility, while the remaining 146 units will be set aside for seniors who need assisted living and memory care, according to the plans. The complex will also have 216 parking spaces, according to the proposal.

During the Zoning Committee meeting, Ald.-elect Jim Gardiner (45) sat with opponents of the project, including Joe Angelastri, the owner of the nearby City Newsstand, who said the project needed to be made more affordable for residents of Portage Park.

“If my successor wants to start over, you’ll have Lake Gardiner,” Arena said.

After the meeting, Gardiner refused to speak with reporters and directed opponents of the project to do the same.

Laurino could not be reached for comment.

Arena said the development team met with Gardiner to brief him on the project. Arena said Gardiner told him that he wanted more time to fully understand the development.

“The project is a great project,” Arena said. “If it is going to be killed because of politics, that’s kind of sad to me.”

In June, Ryan Companies officials said independent living units would rent for $4,400 a month, assisted living units would rent for $6,000 a month and memory care units would rent $7,200 a month.

None of the development’s units will be set aside for low- or moderate-income residents. Instead, to fulfill the requirements of the Affordable Requirements Ordinance, the developer will build 10 off-site units at locations that have not yet been determined.

Allowing the developer to build off site units was a fair compromise, given that rents at the facility would include services such as housekeeping or nursing, Arena said.

The $125 million complex will create will create 500 construction jobs and 140 permanent jobs, city officials said.

“Six Corners had enough uncertainty,” Arena said. “I don’t know why [Ald. Laurino] would insert herself like this.”

In other action, aldermen gave the green light to (O2018-8012) a $95 million office tower at the Fulton Market gateway in the West Loop as well as several projects in the 1st Ward outlined in our preview, including a plan (O2019-1346) to convert an early 1900s-era Logan Square building that currently houses a substance abuse recovery center into a 35-unit apartment complex targeted at millennials.

Aldermen also advanced a request (O2019-1377) from outgoing Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1) to rezone his Wicker Park home to allow him to convert his Wicker Park single-family home to a two-flat.

However, a proposal (O2019-1347) to build a 32-unit transit-oriented development at 1838-44 N. Western Ave. was deferred as were (O2019-328) plans for a 12-story office tower at Illinois Street and La Salle Drive in River North with shops and stores on the ground floor.

In addition, a proposal (O2018-4980) to convert a convenience store at 3579 W. Dickens Ave. in Logan Square into a shelter by dog-rescue group One Tail At A Time was withdrawn.

A lawsuit designed to block a family from adding a garage to a historic Old Town Triangle building for their daughter who uses a wheelchair hinges in part on whether one of the attorneys representing the opponents should have registered as a lobbyist.

As Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1) prepares to leave office, the City Council’s Zoning Committee will consider nine proposals that could add approximately 100 apartment and condominium units to his rapidly gentrifying soon-to-be-former North Side ward.

The Cook County Board gathers Tuesday for the first of three days of meetings — the first since President Toni Preckwinkle lost her bid for mayor of Chicago.

Darker shaded wards indicate heavier spending. Click on each ward to view the total amount of campaign cash spent and the top three spenders in each contest. [Source: Illinois State Board of Elections]

The total cost to run for — and win — a seat on the Chicago City Council representing a North Side Ward was on average more expensive than a successful run for a City Council seat representing the South or West Side, according to an analysis of aldermanic campaign spending by The Daily Line.

The gaping hole at the heart of the Six Corners Shopping District would be filled with a 248-unit senior living facility under a plan endorsed Thursday by the Chicago Plan Commission.

The 10-story building at Irving Park Road, Cicero and Milwaukee avenues will fill the corner left vacant since 2016, when the Bank of America branch that stood at the center of the area once known as the city's premiere shopping destination outside the Loop was torn down.

In what is likely one of his last official actions, Ald. John Arena (45) urged commissioners to approve the project from the Ryan Companies that also includes an Aldi grocery store and public plaza.

“We are at the end of a very long redevelopment effort,” Arena said. “It is time for Six Corners to come back.”

The commission voted unanimously to send the $125 million project to the City Council’s Zoning Committee, which could consider the proposal Wednesday.

The complex will create will create 500 construction jobs and 140 permanent jobs, city officials said.

It is the second time the Plan Commission approved the redevelopment of the site. In March 2016, it approved plans for a massive shopping center anchored by Ross Dress for Less and Aldi. However, that plan fell apart amid woes in the retail industry.

None of the development’s units will be set aside for low- or moderate-income residents. Instead, to fulfill the requirements of the Affordable Requirements Ordinance, the developer will build 10 off-site units at locations that have not yet been determined.

Jacqueline Hathaway, a resident of Portage Park who lives near Six Corners, urged the commission not to advance the proposal, since Arena will leave office next month after losing his seat to Ald.-elect James Gardiner.

However, Ald. Tom Tunney (44) said Arena is still the alderman of the 45th Ward.

“To delay this would be somewhat of an insult to the work Ald. Arena has done,” Tunney said. “Six Corners has been waiting a long time.”

Of the complex’s 248 units, 102 apartments will be part of an independent living facility, while the remaining 146 units will be set aside for seniors who need assisted living and memory care, according to the plans.

The complex will also have 216 parking spaces, according to the proposal.

Proponents of Six Corners’ restoration to a measure of its former glory will also have to figure out what is next for the former Sears department store across Irving Park Road from the planned senior living facility.

The massive store closed a year ago amid the firm’s bankruptcy, and plans for the building’s reuse are in the initial stages, officials said.

In other action, the commission acceded to demands from 25th Ward Ald.-elect Byron Sigcho-Lopez to delay two items in his ward.

The commission had been set to change the location of new CTA Red Line station as part of a massive planned development between the South Loop and Chinatown as well as a 26-story residential tower planned in the West Loop.

Sigcho-Lopez asked for more time to review those plans.

Commissioners approved the other items in our preview, including two office towers.

A 19-story office tower with shops and stores on the ground floor is set to be built the Fulton Market District despite the objections of some nearby residents who said they were concerned it would snarl traffic and threaten pedestrians.

The $95 million project from Thor Equities will pay $3.96 million into the city’s Neighborhood Opportunity Fund in return for permission to build a taller, denser tower.

Plans for a 12-story office building with shops and stores on the ground floor is set to be built at LaSalle and Illinois streets also advanced. Developer Jaime Javors will pay $1.7 million into the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund in return for permission to build a taller, denser tower.

Ald. Deb Mell (33) said Wednesday she would ask Chicago elections officials for a partial recount after the final, unofficial results showed her losing her seat by 13 votes.

Wading into uncharted legal waters, two groups Wednesday sued the city of Chicago to block the tax increment financing district set to generate $900 million to subsidize the massive Lincoln Yards development, saying it will exacerbate the economic and racial segregation plaguing the city.

Ald.-elect Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) said Monday he asked city planning officials to put off consideration of a massive planned development between the South Loop and Chinatown as well as a 26-story residential tower planned in the West Loop.

The 159 aldermanic candidates who made it on the ballot in February together spent $22.6 million during the past year, according to records filed with the state board of elections.

Spending in races in 14 wards totaled more than $500,000 each, records show.

Grassroots Collaborative and Raise Your Hand will gather Wednesday morning to announce that they have filed suit against the city to block the $900 million subsidy for Lincoln Yards, while residents of the 49th Ward have a new committeeperson.

Activist Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez ousted 33rd Ward Ald. Deb Mell, ending a Chicago political dynasty and becoming the sixth member of the City Council aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America.

Four police dispatchers abused the city’s family leave policy to take Caribbean cruises, submitting false statements from doctors in order to vacation at Chicago taxpayers’ expense, according to the city’s watchdog.

Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot said Monday she donated a $500 contribution from the Portage Park businessman charged Friday with bribing Ald. Edward Burke (14) to Reform for Illinois, a group working to “reduce public corruption.”

Elections officials will count the final votes in the April 2 runoff Tuesday, as two contests remain decided by fewer than 30 votes.