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Whole Foods Market to Open in Former Treasure Island Location in Old Town

Whole Foods Market has signed a lease for the former Treasure Island grocery store location at 1639 N. Wells St. in Old Town, according to Ald. Brian Hopkins. The building has been vacant since Treasure Island closed in 2018, and no opening date has been set. The announcement comes amid a nearby residential development project.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Sep 1–2, 2026 Published 3h ago

Whole Foods Market is set to open a new store in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood, taking over the location formerly occupied by Treasure Island Foods.

The grocery chain has signed a lease for the building at 1639 N. Wells , according to Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), who announced the lease in his weekly newsletter on Monday. The building has sat vacant since Treasure Island closed its Old Town grocery in 2018.

Whole Foods Market is a Texas-based chain specializing in organic foods with 10 existing Chicago locations, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.

Hopkins said in a statement that no opening date has been determined and that details regarding potential reconstruction of the property remain unclear.

"From the beginning of the redevelopment review, I was clear that restoring a full-service grocery store to this location had to be a priority," Hopkins said. "Whole Foods Market is an established operator with the capacity to serve the neighborhood for the long term."

He added: "There is still work ahead, but the signed lease is a concrete and welcome step forward."

Community Response

Ray Clark, president of the Old Town Triangle Association, welcomed the lease. "Old Town residents have consistently emphasized the importance of returning a full-service grocery store to this location," Clark said in a statement. "This lease provides welcome certainty about the site's future."

Context of Residential Development

The new grocery store will complement a major residential project underway to the south. Developer Fern Hill received approval in April from the Chicago City Council to construct a 349-unit apartment tower called Old Town Canvas at the corner of North Avenue and Wells Street, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.

The development plan had previously generated controversy. The site at 1639 N. Wells St. was used for years as a parking lot for the nearby Moody Church. Some neighbors opposed the tower, citing concerns about traffic and preserving Old Town's small-town character, while others supported it for housing needs.

Hopkins ultimately backed Fern Hill's project after the developer scaled back from an original plan for a 500-unit skyscraper. Additionally, Walgreens agreed to continue operating on the site and incorporate its store into the new apartment building, according to the Chicago Tribune.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

Chicago Sun-Times

Framing: announces the planned Whole Foods opening at the vacant Treasure Island site

as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Whole Foods Market is planned to open in Old Town.
The grocery store chain recently signed a lease at the former Treasure Island Foods location.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) announced the lease in his weekly newsletter on Monday.
The building at 1639 N. Wells St. has sat vacant since Treasure Island closed in 2018.
An opening date has not been determined, Hopkins said in a statement.
Hopkins stated: 'From the beginning of the redevelopment review, I was clear that restoring a full-service grocery store to this location had to be a priority.'
Hopkins said: 'Whole Foods Market is an established operator with the capacity to serve the neighborhood for the long term.'
Hopkins added: 'There is still work ahead, but the signed lease is a concrete and welcome step forward.'

Read the source article →

Chicago Tribune

Framing: Announces Whole Foods Market opening in Old Town, emphasizing the arrival of a new grocery store. — Optimistic and measured

as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Whole Foods Market is opening in the Old Town neighborhood, taking over the former Treasure Island supermarket location.
The chain is Texas-based, specializes in organic foods, and already has 10 Chicago locations.
Signed a lease for the building at 1639 N. Wells, according to Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd.
Treasure Island shuttered its Old Town grocery in 2018.
Fern Hill won approval in April from the Chicago City Council to construct a 349-unit apartment tower called Old Town Canvas at North Avenue and Wells Street.
Ray Clark, president of the Old Town Triangle Association, said in a statement: "Old Town residents have consistently emphasized the importance of returning a full-service grocery store to this location."
Clark also said: "This lease provides welcome certainty about the site’s future."
Hopkins said there is no firm opening date or information on reconstruction needs.
Hopkins said: "From the beginning of the redevelopment review, I was clear that restoring a full-service grocery store to this location had to be a priority."
Hopkins said: "Whole Foods Market is an established operator with the capacity to serve the neighborhood for the long term."
Hopkins said: "There is still work ahead, but the signed lease is a concrete and welcome step forward."
The site was used for years as a parking lot for Moody Church; some neighbors opposed the tower over traffic and feel concerns, while others supported it for housing needs.
Hopkins backed Fern Hill after the developer scaled back from a 500-unit skyscraper.
Walgreens agreed to continue operating on the site and incorporate its store into the new apartment building.

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimA new Whole Foods Market is planned to open in Old Town, Chicago, taking over the former Treasure Island Foods location.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Chicago Sun-Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC, Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimWhole Foods Market signed a lease at the former Treasure Island Foods location at 1639 N. Wells St. in Old Town.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Chicago Sun-Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC, Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimAld. Brian Hopkins (2nd) announced the lease in his weekly newsletter on Monday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Chicago Sun-Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC
ClaimThe building at 1639 N. Wells St. has sat vacant since Treasure Island closed in 2018.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Chicago Sun-Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC, Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimAn opening date for the new Whole Foods has not been determined.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Chicago Sun-Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC, Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimAld. Brian Hopkins said: "From the beginning of the redevelopment review, I was clear that restoring a full-service grocery store to this location had to be a priority."	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Chicago Sun-Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC, Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimAld. Brian Hopkins said: "Whole Foods Market is an established operator with the capacity to serve the neighborhood for the long term."	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Chicago Sun-Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC, Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimAld. Brian Hopkins added: "There is still work ahead, but the signed lease is a concrete and welcome step forward."	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Chicago Sun-Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC, Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimWhole Foods Market is a Texas-based chain that specializes in organic foods and already has 10 Chicago locations.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimDeveloper Fern Hill won approval in April from the Chicago City Council to construct a 349-unit apartment tower called Old Town Canvas at North Avenue and Wells Street.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimRay Clark, president of the Old Town Triangle Association, said: "Old Town residents have consistently emphasized the importance of returning a full-service grocery store to this location."	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimRay Clark also said: "This lease provides welcome certainty about the site's future."	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimThe site at 1639 N. Wells St. was used for years as a parking lot for Moody Church; some neighbors opposed the tower over traffic and feel concerns, while others supported it for housing needs.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimAld. Brian Hopkins backed Fern Hill after the developer scaled back from a 500-unit skyscraper.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC
ClaimWalgreens agreed to continue operating on the site and incorporate its store into the new apartment building.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Chicago Tribune as of Sep 2, 2026, 12:47 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune 15 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-02