Trustees Advance New Strip Mall Plan

A plan for a new strip mall that so far has attracted Jimmy John’s and Rookies Al-American Pub and Grill won a preliminary thumbs up from village trustees Thursday night.

The board agreed to forward a proposal from Interstate Partners to the planning commission for a formal review.

Interstate Partners wants to construct two buildings on lots just south of Chase Bank, within Regency Square, off Route 47.

Interstate Partners owns and operates the Northwest Corporate Park and Northwest Business Park on Randall Road in Elgin. The company’s occupancy rate in its retail parks is 100 percent, said Mark Ebacher, the company’s president.

Plans call for two buildings on the lots, each with a drive-through. Each storefront would have patio areas.

While the board was enthusiastic about new restaurants coming to town, there were some questions about the monument sign and parking.

Trustee John Piwko would like to see the monument sign be wrapped in bricks to keep a consistent look on Route 47. He also is concerned about parking and backups in the drive-through windows at each building.

The parking lots at the Northwest Business Park, which also has a Rookies, are always jammed up, he said.

Trustees tossed around ideas to improve the parking and Ebacher said the company could work on the issue.

“I think this plan is great,” Trustee Pam Fender said. “Different people are doing backflips about which restaurants are coming.”

Huntley residents also were excited about Curve’s coming to town; however, that is not the case. Interstate Partners used the company’s name on blueprints depicting the monument sign, however, Curves is not a tenant.