Aldi to build on disputed Wal-Mart site

Tribune:

Aldi plans to open a grocery store next year at a South Side shopping center also eyed by Wal-Mart, which has been stymied for five years in a battle with unions.

Batavia-based discount supermarket chain Aldi signed a lease with Archon Group LP, the development arm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., to open at Chatham Market at 83rd Street and Stewart Avenue, according to documents filed with Cook County.

The 17,000-square-foot freestanding building is slated to debut in late 2010 and will follow Aldi's new prototype design, touting high ceilings, plenty of windows and generally a "brighter, warmer more welcoming look and feel," said Aldi spokeswoman Martha Swaney, who confirmed the deal.
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The agreement comes as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Archon are stepping up pressure on the city to allow Wal-Mart to build a supercenter on the site. Supercenters are typically 180,000-square-foot stores that also sell groceries.

The City Council is expected to vote as soon as June 30 on a proposal to repeal a clause in the Chatham Market redevelopment agreement that has kept Wal-Mart out.

The clause requires the city planning department to approve any user going into the property that occupies more than 100,000 square feet. The unusual term stems from the original developer's 2004 pledge to keep Wal-Mart from coming into the development as part of negotiations to rezone the former steel manufacturing site for retail.

Now, the hope is that the recession and the city's need for tax revenue to fill budget gaps will sway aldermen who have in the past voted to keep Wal-Mart from expanding in the city.

What does everyone think of an Aldi's opening up shop at Chatham Market?