Five years ago, the unveiling of a plan for the revitalization of Madison Street, from Central Park (3600 W) in East Garfield Park to Damen Ave (2000 W) on the Near West Side, was generating a lot of buzz in the community. The steep economic downturn that soon followed wasn’t part of the plan.
A look at Madison Street today shows little economic development has taken place, none of it the kind of retail envisioned in the redevelopment plan created in cooperation with the University of Illinois Chicago.
Two new drug stores have opened, a CVS and a Walgreens, and there’s the promise of a Pete’s Fresh Market at Madison and Western Ave (2400 W). That’s all that five years have brought on the retail front.
Just west and east of Western Ave there was quite a bit of new condo construction 5 years ago. Buyers of that era have seen the value of their units plunge by as much as 80% in today’s market.