Wheaton's old Cock Robin headed for demolition to make way for retail, office building

After decades of serving steak burgers, square-scooped ice cream and then deli sandwiches, the site of a Wheaton landmark will no longer exist as a restaurant.

The old Cock Robin suddenly closed after 35 years in 2001, depriving many longtime patrons of one final milkshake and spin on a red swivel chair to the track of an oldies tune.

Shane's Deli took over the corner building and made its own mark on the downtown during a nearly 20-year run and one ownership change until shuttering in December.

So while Wheatonites can't tap into their food nostalgia, they can still grab one last picture outside the old hamburger stand at Wesley and Hale streets.

The property owner plans to tear down the former Cock Robin and a neighboring combined structure to the north at 210-214 N. Hale St., across from Memorial Park.

After floating a redevelopment project for years, the owner is now requesting city zoning approvals to raze both buildings to make way for a three-story building with space for retailers on the first floor, offices on the second and an individual condo unit on the third floor.

"They're just looking at general retail, so non-restaurant uses on the first floor, and then they were looking at an office use on the second floor," Wheaton staff planner Tracy Jones said Friday.

The city's planning and zoning board will hold a public hearing on the proposal at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11.

The developer is seeking exemptions from the city's zoning code to allow just nine on-site parking spaces instead of the required 47 spaces.

The city has received preliminary floor plans, elevations and a parking study from the applicant, listed as North Hale LLC.

A parking consultant will have to provide testimony during the public hearing that the proposed number of spaces would be adequate for the project, Jones said.

The developer also is asking for zoning variations to allow a setback of 0.3 feet from the north property line (Karlskoga Avenue), a setback of zero feet from the east property line (Hale Street) and a setback of 0.4 feet from the south property line (Wesley Street) instead of the required 5 feet for all three setbacks.

Former Shane's owner Eric Schlickman cited the planned redevelopment and the winter "lull in business" in announcing the deli's closing last November. Schlickman and four friends - all Wheaton North High School alumni - took over the lunch spot from the deli's namesake, Shane Rodgers, in May 2018.

Schlickman started running Shane's on his own a year later while working on his new burger restaurant and taphouse. 302 Wheaton opened last fall.