Jaffe Cos. set to build shopping center on Northwest Side

Malls are dying? Jaffe Companies doesn’t think so. The firm will begin work on the first of three buildings that will make up its Edens Collection shopping center on the Northwest Side.

The city on Wednesday issued a permit for the first of three buildings at the complex, at 4631 West Foster Avenue. The first phase of the project is a 124,000-square-foot building with parking on its roof, according to building permit documents.

Those documents peg the price of the entire construction cost of the complex at $52 million, though earlier city estimates listed it at $58 million.

City officials earlier this year said the project would feature a Target, LA Fitness, Ross Dress for Less and Starbucks along with medical/office and restaurant space.

The nine-acre site was previously home to the Sunstar Americas dental products factory and has been vacant for two years.

The general contractor on the project is W.E. O’Neil. The city has not issued building permits for any subsequent phases of the complex, but the initial one is by far the largest. The total size of the project is 144,000 square feet.

In June, the City Council voted to give Jaffe $13 million in tax-increment financing, several months after it created the Foster/Edens TIF District.

The money would help pay for site acquisition, environmental remediation and other costs of the project.

In a TIF district, property taxes gained from increased property values go into a fund to pay for improvements within the district.

As part of the TIF deal with the city, Jaffe is providing $2 million for improvements to nearby Gompers Park.