Whole Foods in Old Town Chicago: What's Confirmed for Wells Street?

"From the beginning of the redevelopment review, I was clear that restoring a full-service grocery store to this location had to be a priority," Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said in a statement reported by Block Club Chicago on Sept. 1.

The location he meant is 1639 N. Wells St., where Treasure Island closed in 2018. Whole Foods Market has now signed a lease for the space. No grocer picked out Old Town after eight years of vacancy. The store comes out of a negotiation over a 36-story apartment tower one block south, and that origin shapes what Wells Street can reasonably expect over the next year.

Eight Years and One Grocer That Didn't Arrive

Most of Old Town remembers the building as Treasure Island. It hasn't had a grocery tenant since that store closed in 2018.

The site isn't a simple box store. In a September 2026 column, real estate writer Don DeBat reported the property at about 44,000 square feet, roughly 220 feet along Wells and 200 feet deep. Only about half of that was enclosed retail space. The rest held 45 parking spaces, access drives, loading and receiving, and mechanical space serving the condominium tower at 1660 N. LaSalle, including access to that building's parking garage above. The grocery floor sits inside a building that does other jobs for its neighbors, and any new store has to fit around them.

The site came close once before. In December 2023, Block Club reported that developer Fern Hill had signed a letter of intent with Commissary Market, a locally owned grocer that planned to move to Wells after closing its longtime Gold Coast store. That move never happened, and the building stayed empty for nearly three more years.

How a Tower Vote Turned Into a Grocery Lease

The September lease came out of a fight over Fern Hill's other project, Old Town Canvas, a mixed-use plan centered at 1600 N. LaSalle Drive. The tower site sits between Wells Street, North Avenue and LaSalle Drive, where a Walgreens and a Moody Church surface parking lot have stood. The wider plan also covered the BP station at 1647 N. LaSalle, the Shell station at 130 W. North Ave., Moody Church's campus at 1635 N. LaSalle, the Walgreens at 1601 N. Wells, and the empty Treasure Island at 1639 N. Wells.

The tower changed size several times before it was approved:

1. September 2023. Fern Hill proposed a 36-story, 395-foot tower with 500 apartments, 100 of them affordable, plus ground-floor retail and a plan to find a grocer for Treasure Island. Block Club covered the first proposal.
2. March 2024. The tower grew to 44 stories and 480 feet, still with 500 apartments, and was set farther back from Wells.
3. February 2025. Under a compromise with Hopkins, the tower dropped to 36 stories and 379 feet with 349 apartments, about 30 percent fewer units, including 70 affordable units. The Chicago Plan Commission approved the amended Planned Development No. 89 on Feb. 20, 2025.
4. April 2025. The Zoning Committee approved the plan on April 15, and City Council followed on April 16.
5. April 2026. A judge dismissed a lawsuit by nearby residents who sought to stop the tower, Crain's Chicago Business reported.
6. September 2026. Whole Foods signed the lease at 1639 N. Wells.

Block Club reports that as Fern Hill worked toward approval, Hopkins required the developer to find a grocery tenant for the former Treasure Island as part of the compromise. The neighborhood had pressed for that outcome all along. "Old Town residents have consistently emphasized the importance of returning a full-service grocery store to this location," Ray Clark, president of the Old Town Triangle Association, said in a statement to Block Club.

The timing on the grocer's side helped too. Whole Foods had already announced a store at 827 W. Belmont Ave. in Lakeview and another in the former CVS at 1200 N. Ashland Ave. in Wicker Park earlier in 2026. The alderman's condition created a requirement, and a chain that was already adding North Side stores this year filled it.

The Store Runs on Its Own Clock

Since the grocery came out of the tower negotiation, it would be easy to assume the two will open together. They probably won't.

DeBat's column notes that one Fern Hill affiliate owns both 1639 N. Wells and 1600 N. LaSalle, but that the planned Whole Foods can move forward separately from the high-rise. The tower is still in court. DeBat also points out that the Treasure Island property wasn't part of the PD-89 rezoning application. The lawsuit was filed about three months after the April 2025 Council vote and argued that the city improperly rezoned the tower site. After the April 2026 dismissal, the opponents filed notice that they plan to appeal, according to court records cited in the same column.

So the tower's legal timeline and the grocery's construction timeline have separated. Here is where each part of the corner stands as of mid-October 2026:

Hopkins described the lease in similar terms. "There is still work ahead, but the signed lease is a concrete and welcome step forward," he said, as quoted in DeBat's column. His office has said details on the Old Town store, including the expected opening date, will be announced as plans are finalized.

When news does come, permits will likely show up before any opening date. The building is also tied up with 1660 N. LaSalle's parking, loading and mechanical systems, so the design work has more to cover than a standard storefront fit-out.

Where the Grocery Run Goes Until Then

Until the store opens, Old Town's full-service grocery options are still spread across nearby neighborhoods. The closest ones to Wells and North:

• The Fresh Market, 1233 N. Wells St. About four blocks south on the same street. The retailer's store page lists meat, seafood, produce, bakery and deli.
• Jewel-Osco, 102 W. Division St. The nearest Jewel, according to the chain's store locator. Others are at 424 W. Division St. and 550 N. State St.
• Trader Joe's, 1840 N. Clybourn Ave. The Lincoln Park store, with River North's location at 44 E. Ontario St. as another option, per the Trader Joe's Chicago locator.

Each of these is a trip out of the Triangle. That distance is why the Old Town Triangle Association kept the Treasure Island building on the table throughout the tower talks.

The Rest of the Corner Has Its Own Rules

The approved plan changes more than the grocery. Chicago YIMBY's summary of the approval says the tower would replace the Walgreens and the parking lot, Walgreens would come back inside the new building, and the tower's garage would be shared with Moody Church. The BP and Shell stations would be removed to make room for a Moody Church expansion.

The compromise also included a developer-funded traffic package with curb-cut removal, curb extensions and a new Divvy station. The Old Town Merchants & Residents Association first opposed the project. It then negotiated a conditional support agreement, finalized April 14, 2025, with terms that will matter on the street once work starts. Block Club reported that the agreement includes:

• Weekday-only construction
• Deliveries and rideshare kept off North Avenue
• Rat abatement
• Bird-safe windows
• No short-term rentals under six months
• No balconies
• Restricted garage use
• A community advisory panel

Neighbors haven't all seen the project the same way. Block Club reported in March 2024 that many neighbors opposed the tower over traffic concerns, while others supported it, saying the area needs more density, affordable housing and safety improvements. The grocery requirement drew wide agreement from the start, and it's the one piece of the plan that now has a signed lease behind it.

If you own near Wells and North and want to think through what a grocer at 1639 N. Wells and a tower one block south could mean for your building, Taylor Nirchi is glad to walk through the corner with you, from the timing to the details of your property. Let's Connect.