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.
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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!
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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
Wow! McHenry is going to be great!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait!
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful news! Congrats on all the efforts to keep McHenry growing!!
ReplyDeleteWe need a Hardee's or a chick fa la
ReplyDeleteThose 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.
DeleteHardees 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.