A 62,000-sf Food 4 Less store on the southern 4.9 acres of thetwo-block strip on the east side of Ashland Avenue, the site of aChicago Transit Authority bus barn until 1998. The retail center on2.5 acres to the north already is 70% leased, says Audrey Mathis ofthe department of planning and development.

The project is nearly two years in the works, Mathis notes. A$2.3-million land sale was approved by the city council in November2002, she adds, but the land was more contaminated than firstthought. Tax increment financing assistance will help payenvironmental cleanup and additional construction costs, shesays.

"The environmental remediation of the barn site is a formidablebarrier to growth in this area," says Beth McGuire, also of thedepartment of planning and development. "This plan is very muchneeded to assist in the revitalization of the commercial strip inthis area."