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Residents of Chicago’s Galewood neighborhood are expressing a strong desire for their community interests to be prioritized in the redevelopment plans for the former Mars-Wrigley factory site.
The factory, known for producing iconic treats like Snickers and M&Ms, shut down its operations on the West Side in 2024.
During a community meeting held on Wednesday night, a consensus emerged among attendees that there is no need for additional housing developments in the area.
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McCaffrey Interests, the developer, is aiming to revitalize the historic site by proposing the construction of over 470 rental units.
However, local residents who filled the meeting room expressed a preference for the establishment of amenities such as a new library, a senior center, an indoor sports venue, retail spaces, and a job training center.
“The key word in community is unity. We need unity in community with the leaders,” resident Idella Mister said. “That’s why we’re out here to say we want to see like a library or a social service, something that’s going to help the community”.
Some are worried about the impact of adding more housing to the historic site off North Oak Park and Armitage and what that could mean for safety, emergency response times and traffic. Others concerned about additional cost for taxpayers if no new housing is added.
“You are backed up from the train track back to North Avenue. Consider if you had 400 units in there, where are they going to go?” resident Donald Glover said.
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Alderman Chris Taliaferro says McCaffrey Interest presented an initial concept at the end of last year and based off his conversations with the developer, they are open to new ideas.
“I’m hopeful that some of our community groups and residents can come together and present ideas to McCaffrey on a more of a unified basis… and so that we can present those ideas to McCaffrey,” Ald. Taliaferro said.
ABC7 has reached out to McCaffrey and is awaiting a response.
Organizers say there will be another community meeting in the next couple weeks, where they will develop a new plan based off ideas gathered from Wednesday night’s meeting.
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