Friday, August 28, 2015

CVS, BIG R, DOWNTOWN THEATER STATUS, NEW BUSINESSES COMING TO THE CITY, UPDATES AND MORE!!!!

Update on Downtown McHenry Theater Building
Fifth Third bank recently acquired title to the former downtown McHenry Theater building on Green Street.  Staff has been working with the broker marketing the site, as well as potential operators and investors to get the theater back open.  Although this is not an easy or quick process the City is doing everything possible to get the theater reopened because it’s a part of the historic fabric of the City and vital to the City’s downtown revitalization efforts.

CVS Pharmacy
CVS construction crews have been working diligently to construct a new 13,225 square feet store with accompanying drive-thru at the northwest corner of Elm and Front Streets.  The demolition and site clearing went extremely well and the building is progressing.  Below is a picture of the site 13 days ago and you can drive by today and see the continued progress.  CVS is unsure of an exact opening date at this time but should be announcing a timeline in the near future.

 
Picture (CVS Building) dated August 15, 2015


Former Sudsy Wash
The former Sudsy Wash at 3932 Elm was purchased and will reopen in the near future as a car wash, similar to the former Sudsy Wash.  Pavement, striping and other improvements have been completed at the site.  A definitive opening date has not yet been determined but anticipated this fall.

Former Sullivan’s Grocery Store
The former Sullivan’s Grocery Store at 3705 Elm was purchased and is being renovated to accommodate a sporting goods retail store and indoor gun range.  Improvements have recently commenced and plans for the interior buildout are being finalized but work should be progressing more quickly in the coming weeks.


Big R
As previously reported, Big R purchased the former Target building and site at 1860 N Richmond Road.  Big R Stores, a farm and home retailer, and competitor of Farm and Fleet purchased the building formerly occupied by Target, which is located on Lot 1 in the McHenry Plaza Shopping Center.  McHenry Plaza Shopping Center consists of approximately 194,000 square feet of retail space and the former Target building is 95,420 square feet.  Big R will employ approximately 30 full-time people.

Sincere Landscaping
The building located at 920 N Front Street, which has been vacant for quite some time and located immediately north of the roller rink has been leased and the City Council has approved a zoning map amendment and conditional use permit for outdoor storage to allow Sincere Landscaping to conduct business at the site.  This is a new business, landscape and snowplowing contractor, moving to the City of McHenry from another community.  Sincere currently has nine employees and will do some landscape improvements along Front Street, as well as paint the east end of the existing building to enhance the aesthetic curb appeal.

City of McHenry Recreation Center
If you’ve been by the Municipal Center recently you’ve probably noticed the progress on the construction of the City of McHenry Recreation Center.  Below are some pictures of the building over a two-week period in August.  The recreation center will be 18,200 square-feet and is anticipated to be open Spring 2016! 

 

Door Service Inc.
Door Service Inc. recently opened at 907 N Front Street (Illinois Route 31), following renovations to the building.  Below is a picture of the finished product.  The building is extremely attractive and will add character heading towards Main Street and Elm Street and is another site along this corridor which has contributed to the on-going revitalization of the area.  If you can drive or walk through it Door Service Inc. can probably help you.  

Door Service Inc. (907 N Front Street)


Voltage Stabilization Site
If you’ve driven down Front Street, south of High Street on the east side of the road (302 Front Street), you’ve probably seen some construction going on with a bunch of orange structures stacked towards Front Street.  When completed this will be an electrical voltage stabilization center which will be tied into the Commonwealth Edison substation on Lillian Street.  Upon completion, located on the Front Street site, will be containers with dry cell batteries monitored 24 hours a day/7 days a week/365 days a year and when electrical demand is high this facility will stabilize the electrical grid using the dry cell batteries within the containers on-site.  The containers will be enclosed within a fenced-in area and heavily landscaped so it will be visually attractive and unobtrusive.  The batteries will be continuously monitored remotely.  This is one of three projects being constructed in the State of Illinois of this type and is supported by Commonwealth Edison’s Smart Grid Infrastructure Modernization Initiative.  There is no adverse health, noise, safety or other impacts associated with this project.  The project will most likely be substantially completed late fall of this year.

Lucky Poker
Lucky Poker, a tavern which will feature craft beers and other beverages, along with video gaming machines is currently being constructed in the ReMax Plaza Shopping Center at 4005 Kane Avenue Unit L-formerly a chiropractic office.  The tavern is new to the City of McHenry but the operator has locations in other counties, one of which I visited when they initially approached the City of McHenry.  The tavern I visited in Belvidere, IL had granite countertops, a couple of couches and exhibited a low-key type atmosphere.  It will add another element to ReMax Plaza Shopping Center to draw people to the center during times when other businesses may be closed.

Sprit Halloween
It’s that time of year again.  Sprit Halloween will be opening a store in the McHenry Plaza Shopping Center adjacent to Big R at 1792 N Richmond Road.  Boo careful when you go there!

European Service at Home Inc.
European Service at Home Inc. will be opening at 4606 W Elm Street.  European Service at Home provides an integrated health and human service operation for clients seeking their assistance.

 Petroons Mexican Restaurant
Also coming to ReMax Plaza Shopping Center, located at the southwest corner of Kane Avenue and Front Street is Petroons Mexican Restaurant, which will be located at 4005 Kane Avenue Unit G, formerly a takeout pizza restaurant.  Petroons is new to the City of McHenry but the operator has two other restaurants in nearby cities.  The restaurant will offer dine-in and carry-out options.

Betty’s Bistro
Betty’s Bistro, a video gaming café, is currently completing their interior buildout at 1771 N Richmond Road (McHenry Grounds Shopping Center), center which Panera Bread is located.  Betty’s Bistro is new to the City of McHenry but operates many other locations in other cities.  They are anticipating an end of September/early October opening date.

White Oaks Memory Care
A new memory care facility for Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients will be constructed at 4605 W Crystal Lake Road immediately north of the Heritage Woods Independent/Assisted Living Facility.  Demolition of the existing home and construction of the new facility will begin Spring 2016 and this property and the Heritage Woods lot will be interconnected.  The full access point to/from Heritage Woods onto Crystal Lake Road will be converted to a right-in/right-out access only and people visiting Heritage Woods will have access to the traffic signal at Front Royal Drive and Crystal Lake Road through this site when the project is completed.

DSW
As previously reported Designer Shoe Warehouse will be opening within the next couple of weeks in the Shops at Fox River Shopping Center!

The City of McHenry welcomes all these businesses and appreciates these companies investing in our City.  There are certainly other projects in the works however some cannot be disclosed until we know the project will occur.  Economic development is an ongoing effort the City is committed to and is a community-wide effort.  At the end of the day the entire community and everyone who is a part of it benefits...

Remember October 2, 2015 is National Manufacturing Day (http://www.mfgday.com/)!!!

Coming in future blog posts: 
  • What factors do non-retail businesses consider when thinking about relocating?
  • National Manufacturing Day….October 2, 2015
  • Small Business Saturday…November 28, 2015
  • Exploring New Marketing Opportunities to promote business attraction, retention and expansion…
  • Updates on recent amendments approved by the City Council to foster and promote business in the City…
  • International Council of Shopping Centers Conference 2015
  • How do brick and mortar businesses remain competitive with on-line businesses?
  • What are Class A, B and C spaces?
  • Franchising?  What is it?  What companies offer it and what challenges are associated with attracting a retailer which operates exclusively using franchising?
  • Future trends in economic development:  “market segmentation;“ “pop-up” stores; “placemaking/third places”
  • Challenges associated with economic development…


Douglas P. Martin
Director of Economic Development
City of McHenry
333 S Green Street
McHenry, IL 60050
815.363.2110 (d)
815.363.2173 (f)
815.790.4752 (c)
@McHenryIL


5 comments:

  1. Wow! McHenry is going to be great!

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  2. This is wonderful news! Congrats on all the efforts to keep McHenry growing!!

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  3. We need a Hardee's or a chick fa la

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    Replies
    1. Those are excellent suggestions Jennifer. I have spoken to representatives from Chick-fil-A many times. Similar to many businesses, Chick-fil-A is concerned about market absorption rate and wants to ensure before they open new stores the required demand is met and by opening a store in the City of McHenry they will not compromise another store in a nearby city or village. Often you will see a restaurant such as this open in a community close to the City of McHenry and then open a location in the City of McHenry some time in the future. For many years Panda Express was the same way and told me for several years-we'll be in the City of McHenry-it's just a matter of time and here they are. Restaurants in particular are extremely cautious and are continually evaluating their growth plans and adjusting them accordingly following close analysis of micro and macro economic factors. Also with Chick-fil-A and in the same sense Hardees where they are entering a new market or don't have many stores in close proximity they really want to be sure the stores they do open are successful and meet their sales/revenue projections for a certain period of time before they open more stores. They will also monitor sales at other similar restaurant types that are in a community already, which they are considering locating in, to ensure there's adequate sustained demand.

      Hardees is also a very viable option for the City of McHenry and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they pursued a site within the City in the near future. Similar to Chick-fil-A Hardees is looking closely at the City of McHenry. Opening new locations is very costly and businesses now more than ever are crossing ever "T" and dotting every "I" and this is good for everyone. The business nor the City wants a new store opening only to close prematurely. These businesses know their business and what works for them and I can definitely tell you, particularly with these types of businesses, that the it's often a matter of when and not if.

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