City Council approves purchase of shuttered Aldi in West Garfield Park

City Council has approved the plans to purchase the abruptly-closed Aldi in West Garfield Park. As part of its steps to help get a grocery store back to the West Garfield Park neighborhood, the City of Chicago has taken this step to allow the Department of Planning and Development to enter into a negotiated site acquisition agreement.

First reported by Austin Weekly News, the store shuttered abruptly at the beginning of October 2021. After serving the neighborhood for over 30 years, the closure has left the neighborhood severely void of grocery stores. After discussions with Aldi, city officials reported in the December 2021 Community Development Commission meeting that Aldi will not reopen the location.

The now-approved acquisition authority comes as part of the city’s strategy to get a grocer back into the retail space. While the city is not buying the plot at this time, the authority allows the city to quickly pivot to do so if that becomes their designated strategy. Currently, the city and DPD is actively referring grocers to the site’s broker to get a new grocery tenant as quickly as possible.

If the city decides to pursue the purchase of the parcel, the city would pay $700,000 for the property and would allow them to control the re-tenanting process. Aldi is reportedly aware of the city’s move to potentially purchase the site and would engage in the sale. The acquisition goal would be to further help facilitate re-tenanting. DPD is looking to work with the local community to ensure the new use of the property meets the community’s needs.