Mariano's Market Nears Approval for Ravenswood Location

A new Mariano’s is one step away from breaking ground in Ravenswood after more than a year of community meetings and development talks.

The market will be located at Lawrence and Ravenswood avenues next to the Ravenswood Metra Station.

City Council will hear an introduction of the ordinance at its Oct. 3 meeting. Ward 47 Alderman Ameya Pawar is optimistic about its passage at the next council meeting.

If approved, construction would begin right away, in late October or early November. An opening date will be announced when construction begins, Pawar said.

“Now it looks like everything is moving smoothly. It’s going to happen,” he said.

Both Mariano’s and an LA Fitness exercise club have pre-leased the space.

Pawar said that area has been empty for the past 40 years. Each time developers wanted to build, the deal fell apart.

“If something doesn’t happen here within the next year or so," he said, "nothing is ever going to happen here."

Talks with Mariano’s began after the alderman took office in 2011. He estimates the project will create about 300 construction jobs and 250 union retail jobs.

Developers added more bike parking and a pedestrian walkway after three community meetings in 2011 and 2012. Pawar said he heard overwhelming support in the community for Mariano’s.

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The grocery store is part of a larger vision to revamp the Lawrence Avenue streetscape. 

The Ravenswood Metra Station will be completely redone as part of a $225 million project to improve area bridges and tracks. Construction for the new station, which is the busiest on that line, broke ground in September.

Pawar said the project is being paid for through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The alderman also plans to invest $13 million for bike lanes and sidewalks to make the street more pedestrian-friendly.

“We’ve gotten a number of calls and a lot of interest from bars and restaurants that want to move out to Lawrence Avenue,” he said. “If everything goes as planned, you’re going to see a transformation of Lawrence Avenue over the next three to five years.”