A 7-Story Vision for Milwaukee Avenue: Bucktown's Most-Talked-About Development Heads Toward a Vote

By Socialhood News · Il/Chicago/Bucktown · May 9, 2026

Bucktown neighbors, there's a big decision coming to City Hall — and your Milwaukee Avenue corridor is right at the center of it. A proposal to replace the strip mall at 1704 N. Milwaukee Ave. with a striking seven-story, mixed-use apartment building hit a brief pause at a City Council zoning committee meeting this week, but Ald. Scott Waguespack says a vote is "likely" at the next scheduled hearing on May 19.

Developer Bill Senne — who has owned the shopping center on the site for decades — is pitching 60 apartments (including 12 affordable units), nearly 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, and a two-level public parking garage designed to help replace spots lost when Milwaukee Avenue got protected bike lanes. Current tenants CorePower Yoga and Garfield's liquor store have both expressed interest in returning after construction wraps. Advocates from Strong Towns Chicago turned out at City Hall to champion the transit-oriented project, pointing out the site's prime location steps from the Damen Blue Line station as an ideal place to add housing in an increasingly expensive neighborhood.

The proposal has drawn both enthusiastic support and some pushback over building height and traffic concerns near the Bucktown Small Cheval on Wabansia Avenue. Whether you're for it, against it, or just curious, this is your neighborhood's future being shaped in real time — and the May 19 zoning committee hearing is your chance to make your voice heard. Stay tuned, and talk to your neighbors.

Sources:
1. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/05/07/proposed-7-story-apartment-building-in-bucktown-stalls/
2. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/01/27/proposed-7-story-bucktown-apartment-building-moving-forward-in-city-council/