Demolition work on the site of the Main Street Station condominium development is nearing completion this week.
Broken terra cotta pieces fill the sidewalk in front of the former White Hen Pantry.
Developer Bernard Katz and Associates reports over a quarter of the units in the nine-story building planned for the site at the southeast corner of Main Street and Chicago Avenue are already sold.
The development of one- and two-bedroom condos was approved by the City Council late last year following a three-year legal battle over zoning for the property.
A view of the planned building looking southeast.
Many of the retail shops formerly at the site have moved to other locations in Evanston.
Trader Joes on groundfloor?
Because having a Trader Joe’s is widely viewed as helping revive a neighborhood, why hasnt someone started blabbering about putting one in the groundfloor of this project, as others have proposed for Rogers Park (Don Gordon), north end of downtown Evanston (Cheryl Wollin), and the abandoned Osco at Oakton and Asbury (Ann Rainey)?
I do know that among serious cigarette smokers, the old White Hen on this lot is sorely missed. The Main St. magazine stand has been forced to pick up the slack.