Broadway update

About a year and a half ago, I did a little survey of everything on Broadway between Foster and Bryn Mawr. Last month, I walked up and down the street to see what has changed since then, and I'm finally getting around to writing about it.

At 5200-04, the building is still boarded up, but there is now a For Sale sign posted high on the exterior wall, near the corner. The building adjacent to the north, formerly a funeral home, also remains boarded up. During the summer, a temporary fence had gone up around it, which had a tendency to blow down. The fence is gone now. In the summer of '05, both of these properties were owned by a developer who wanted to build a large, five-story complex; it was approved at the Alderman's Zoning & Planning meeting (where I was the only one to vote against it), but the developer was unable to get the project financed.

On the east side of the 5200 block, there is a suburban-style shopping center. The northeast corner of the shopping center, facing Berwyn, used to be the Dr. Wax record store. This summer, they moved into a smaller space under the Berwyn 'L' stop. The old Dr. Wax location is still vacant.

The real estate office that had been at 5354-06 has moved to 5503. The old location is now vacant.

I believe the owner of the Chinese grocery at 5353 N. Broadway has bought the building to its north (5355-59). It's freshly painted and has new windows, but it is still empty.

5401 used to be Adria Mare, a Croatian restaurant. It seemed to be struggling for a long time, and I think it has finally gone out of business.

At the time I did my original survey, it looked like a tanning salon was opening up at 5411; it did indeed open and remains so.

The Zengler complex that runs from about 5423 to 5441 is still under construction. Pepitone's, an Italian restaurant, has an awning up at about 5437, but it is not yet open.

The florist at 5459 is no longer there. When I went past there last month, it was vacant. Now it is the campaign office for someone running for alderman against Chris Persons. After the municipal elections on February 27, I imagine it will revert to its former, unused state. An interesting thing I noticed is that when the sign for the florist came down, it revealed the "Care for Real" sign behind it -- Care for Real, a neighborhood food pantry, used to be located at 5459.

At the northwest corner of Broadway and Balmoral, Bromann Park is being renovated.

The taqueria at 5424 is now closed, and the storefront is vacant.

There was a condo sales office at 5501; apparently, all units have sold, and the sales office is no longer needed. 5501 is still empty.

The store that had just moved from 5557 to 5553 at the time of the original survey is no longer at 5553. Instead, this storefront contains the "Enchanted Mystic Shop." Sounds enchanting. And maybe a little mystical.

At the southeast corner of Broadway and Bryn Mawr, 5555-57, which was vacant, now houses a small grocery.

On the other side of the street, 5524, which was a dentist, is now a physical therapy office.

The cell phone store that was at 5556 has moved out, and the storefront remains vacant.