City frees Novak from stop-work order on $90M Portage Park project

The redevelopment of a former Sears in Portage Park is back on.

Novak Construction can resume work on the extensive redevelopment project after city officials lifted a stop-work order that issued in August, Block Club Chicago reported.

City officials told Novak to halt construction when they realized work began without proper permits. Work that had begun illegally included adding a fifth floor and steel columns as well as some exterior activity.

Michael Puccinelli, spokesperson for the Department of Buildings, told the outlet the city hired a third-party structural engineer to review the work that had been done and ensure it was up to code. Everything except the steel work on the fifth floor was approved for construction to continue and Novak secured the necessary permits on Wednesday.

Novak and the construction crew that worked on the site without permits were fined, though it’s unclear how much. City codes show fines for first offense for performing work without proper permits can range from $500 to $1,000, and from $1,000 to $6,000 for a second offense.

This was the second time the project hit a snag. The Department of Buildings issued a stop work order for the site on Jan. 26 after finding that interior demolition work was going on without a permit, delaying work for about three months.

The project to redevelop the 1930s-era Sears store into a six-story Art Deco style building with 206 residences, an accessible rooftop and 50,000 square feet of retail gained approval last year from Chicago city planners. The store shut down in 2018 as shopping trends shifted toward e-commerce.

The $90 million redevelopment will bring 206 luxury apartments to the building at 4712-4738 West Irving Park Road. The units will range in size from studio units, one-bedrooms and two-bedroom apartments. Rents will range from $2,750-$3,000 per month, except for six of the apartments, which will be marketed as affordable housing.

In addition to the residential portion of the building, Target will also anchor 50,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

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