City Council Approves New Coffee Roastery At 3110 N Kedzie Avenue In Avondale

The Chicago City Council has approved the rezoning for a new roastery and cafe at 3110 N Kedzie Avenue in Avondale. Located just north of the intersection with W Barry Avenue right off of the Kennedy Expressway, the shop would repurpose the existing one-story masonry structure that currently houses the Olde Chicago Antiques store. Local business Metric Coffee is behind the plan that has been in motion for a few months with local design firm En-Masse Architecture, previously known as Mike Shively Architecture, on the new outpost.

Current view of 3110 N Kedzie Ave via Google Maps

Founded in 2012, Metric Coffee is the brainchild of Xavier Alexander and Darko Arandjelovic, who had past experience with Intelligentsia and Caffe Streets before launching the joint effort of their own roastery. The company currently operates out of a much smaller space at 2021 W Fulton Street which sees long lines on a regular basis, needing more room to grow as they evolve their 25-person operation. Thus the approval allows the much larger Avondale building to shift from B3-1 Community Shopping District to C1-1 Neighborhood Commercial District for them to expand in.

Floor plan of new Metric Coffee Roastery at 3110 N Kedzie Ave by En-Masse Architecture

With an 11,800-square-foot lot that includes a small parking lot, the 8,614-square-foot commercial building will be gutted and reconverted into a major roasting facility with two Probat roasters, three cold brew tanks, and plenty of work and storage space in a coffee-lab. The remaining area will host a kitchen, grab and go zone, event space, lounge, bar, and cafe serving all types of drinks including beer which will be new for the previously-dry street, along with full breakfast and lunch menus.

Site plan with outdoor patio of new Metric Coffee Roastery at 3110 N Kedzie Ave by En-Masse Architecture

The existing parking lot will also be mostly converted into a seasonal outdoor patio featuring new planters with only three parking spaces being preserved for employees, nine bicycle parking spaces will also be added in the front. However, future visitors can find the CTA Blue Line Belmont stop via a six-minute walk west, Logan Square stop via an 11-minute walk south, and CTA bus Route 77 via a three-minute walk north. Metric will need to submit building permits before moving forward with no opening date currently proposed.

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