Pete’s Fresh Market, the Near West Side grocer that’s wrestled with the city for three years to get moving on a new store at Madison and Western, appears to have the final puzzle piece in place and could start construction next month.

On Friday, Pete’s was granted building permits to start construction Sept. 1 on its 55,000-square-foot store and an attached strip mall. It should be the final measure of city approval that’s needed to start building on the site.

The store’s manager, Charlie Poulikis, said the store should be finished about a year once they start building it, assuming things go smoothly.

But nothing has gone smoothly over the course of Pete’s three-year history on the Near West Side.

Pete’s was formally selected by the city to build a store on the site almost exactly three years ago on, Aug. 20, 2009, besting proposals from Jewel and Food4Less. But it took the city two and a half years to assemble the land for the store, consolidating pieces of land and vacating former alleys. The city also had to deal with gaining control of land from a former developer.

Finally, in January 2012, Pete’s formally bought the land from the city. In February, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on the site of the store, featuring Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) and much pomp and circumstance.

In the six months since, though, the only thing that’s popped up on the vacant lot is more weeds.

That’s because Pete’s has been going back and forth with the city for months on the minute details of its building permits. Along the way, they’ve run into issues with fossilized tickets they were required to pay before getting the permits, as well as debates about who would pay for pavement repairs in front of the store, the size and placement of planters on the sidewalks and aligning handicapped-accessible ramps with Walgreens across the street.

“It’s been frustrating getting them to issue the permit,” Poulikis said. “One person tells you one thing, and another tells you another.”

Fioretti said he tried on numerous occasions to get everyone into one room to talk about the project — people from the Department of Buildings, Housing and Economic Development, and Pete’s.

Finally, with the threat of another meeting on the horizon, the permits were granted last Friday at 5 p.m.

“A lot of the departments had the inability to talk to each other,” Fioretti said. “I think when you get them all in the same room together working and talking, it makes a difference.”

The fact that it’s taken this long is a shame, he said. Pete’s hasn’t asked for any TIF money from the city or other financial incentives, and the project will bring the Near West Side out of a food desert.

“Quite frankly, it was an embarrassment for the city that we weren’t able to do this at this stage,” Fioretti said. “Now that the finger-pointing has come to an end, everybody’s going to live happily ever after. We’re going to have a great project.”

Moving forward, Poulikis said they’re currently locking down their construction team and should be ready to begin prep work on the site within a week. They’re going to try to have the store’s foundation ready by this winter. Their target at this point is to have the store open by August or September 2013.

Aside from Pete’s, the current roster of stores that could be a part of the project includes a T-Mobile cellphone store, a Chinese food place, a coffee shop and a Dots clothing store. Few of those stores have locked in at this point with leases, though that could quickly shift now that construction is ready to begin.

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By andrei00
Posted: 05/20/2013 7:30 AM

You can get a lot from here. This new market will definitely save time for everybody for they can buy everything from here. - Brenda Lee Reed

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By jojody
Posted: 04/30/2013 7:49 AM

I think there is a problem with the engineering department. How come it takes this long before they give the permit. If this continue to happen no businesses will invest in the city. - Michael Courouleau

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By anon from near west
Posted: 09/26/2012 1:05 PM

@Brian. Eating your words now that the Sun-Times confirmed Mr. Bosco's "real reporting". Bridgeport is a whole different world from the near west side. Check your facts before commenting.

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By Anonymous
Posted: 09/26/2012 12:51 PM

Sun-Times today: http://www.suntimes.com/15380120-761/work-halted-on-grocery-store-in-west-side-food-desert-after-threats.html Guns, vandalism, the whole nine yards: "The grocer’s lawyer, Endy Zemenides, said it was a clear shakedown. 'What I would characterize as professional agitators stormed the site and made some very open threats to our construction crew,' he said...He said they talked about jobs for blacks but, when given the chance to fill out applications, had no interest..."

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By brian from Bridgeport
Posted: 09/21/2012 10:57 AM

I drove past the site today, and spoke with a secretary at Dunleavy Construction. The job is on hold due to "protesters " it will continue once issues are worked out with the city. She knew "nothing" about guns, thugs, corruption, or Mr. Blackens was quite surprised by my phone call. Please pass this info on to ease the minds of our westside friends and show Mr. Bosco what real reporting is like

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By Brian D from Bridgeport
Posted: 09/20/2012 11:15 PM

Could someone please explain how only 1 blogger who just so happened to run against Fioretti in 2011, on a platform that all politicians lie has this tremendous scoop and absolutely no one else has any information? Google James Bosco and see. Yes the construction vehicles are not currently on the Pete's site and from what I hear there is a 24 hr security guard on site. Has anyone called the general contractor to see if an employee was threatened at gunpoint? The only source of this info is Bosco

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By Brian from EGP
Posted: 09/20/2012 9:15 PM

David where are you getting your information other than that James Bosco site?

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By David from Near West Side
Posted: 09/20/2012 4:10 PM

I been hearing stories that Pete's has been threated. First a group of men (one with a gun) told the owner they will cause trouble, if they don't get jobs at the site. They are the ones who, torn down the fense. When police was called, they ran off. Plus the city's S/S give Pete's bs citations. There will be a community meet to resolve this bs. Keep in mind that it will be 27th Ward in 2015. I won't be surprise if Burnett (and anyone who doesn't like Fioretti) is behind this mess.

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By Brian from East Garfield Park
Posted: 09/19/2012 8:42 PM

Yes please we need reporting on what happened... we need the facts, why is nobody reporting on this??

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By Gladys from United Center
Posted: 09/18/2012 1:01 PM

i'm so disgusted by this 'shakedown.' if this is what happened, how is this not front page news?!?! screw the politics - this neighborhood NEEDS this grocer http://jamesbosco.com/2012/09/16/shakedown-on-the-west-side/

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By South Loopr from South Loop
Posted: 09/18/2012 10:59 AM

PETE's - Please consider moving to State/Cermak area!! Motor Row, Chinatown, South Loop and Bridgeport need a major grocery spot in the area.

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By Claudeah from united center
Posted: 09/17/2012 5:18 PM

It is with sadness Pete's has stopped construction. They have moved their equipment off of the site. The wild west and m0b-style antics are still alive on the near west side of Chicago. It is sad and disgusting. I know Ben will be following up with an article once the dust is pushed around. But, I hope that dust uncovers the truth.

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By Andrea from Near West Side
Posted: 09/16/2012 8:18 PM

I think it is absolutely scandalous that politics tops everything. The only ones who lose out are the residents. Who is this developer who did not want to sell his bit of land? Was he not able to line his pockets sufficiently with the deal? I have followed the grocery store saga for 9 years now and it seems that it is still ongoing - what a farce. As one of the other commentators stated, I believe that there will be a decent grocery store for the area when I see it.

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By David from Near West Side
Posted: 08/17/2012 11:59 AM

Fioretti is glad and lucky alright. People had already stated that they will not vote for him in any office (alderman, congress, mayor, etc.) if that store is not open before the next election. I forgot. He will not be the alderman in that area anyway in 2015 (unless the lawsuits on the re-map shows the process was done wrong).

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By Sam from Far West Side
Posted: 08/16/2012 1:03 PM

As far as adding/leasing the smaller stores, that area needs a cleaners/shoe shine shop than a Dot store. And I hope if they add a franshise shop, let it be anyone but Subway. There is enough of them in strip mall already.

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By George from West Side
Posted: 08/16/2012 12:54 PM

That is the problem with city's departments in general. Each department have bs separate rules. The building permit process still needs to be upgrade.

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By claudeah from united center
Posted: 08/16/2012 7:46 AM

It's about time. But still, I will believe it when I see it. The reason for the delays really urk me, especially the part about the alley and the reluctance of a developer, who has a huge stack in the near west side, from what I understand, and the reasons why he didn't want to sell his small sliver of land. Let's face it...it's all about politics, be it city or neighborhood, the reason for these delays.