Joliet Lures Grocery Store To Old Certified Site

JOLIET, IL - It's been two long years since residents of Joliet's east side learned the distressing news. Both of Joliet's Certified Warehouse Foods stores, one on East Jackson Street and the other on Richards Street, were closing. Now, there's good news. The city's Economic Development Office has put together a property tax and sales tax incentives package to attract Supermercados El Guero de Joliet to 118 E. Jackson St.

The El Guero grocery store chain already manages shopping centers and full service supermarkets in six locations, including one in nearby Crest Hill. There are also three El Gueros in Chicago and two in Aurora.

According to Joliet, the new El Guero on Jackson Street will employ a total of 85 people, including 50 full-time jobs. Employees also receive health insurance, the city said.

"This is a redevelopment of the entire shopping center," City of Joliet Economic Development Specialist Derek Conley told Joliet Patch on Thursday at City Hall. "And certainly the grocery store is an important component of that. They're doing interior and exterior improvements."

Conley said it's too early to say whether some, or all, of the current businesses near the empty Certified Warehouse Foods building will remain there.

There's a liquor store, a beauty supply store and a laundromat, he explained.

In the coming weeks, Joliet's City Council will review the proposed property tax abatement and sales tax rebate applications for El Guero. The grocery store is seeking from Joliet a five-year property tax abatement applied to the total value of the building on Jackson Street.

El Guero is also seeking a three-year sales tax rebate at 75 percent followed by a 12-year sales tax rebate at 50 percent. The city applicant is listed as Ricardo Garcia, owner and nominee. Documents he submitted to the city indicate El Guero would be a "full-service grocery store offering fresh and frozen produce, meat, deli, dairy and bakery and grocery items."

Regarding the empty Certified Warehouse Foods building on Joliet's Richards Street, that property is expected to be redeveloped as a long-term drug rehabilitation treatment center.

Still, Conley expects east side residents will be pleased about the news of El Guero coming to Jackson Street. "The feedback we have heard has been overwhelmingly positive," he told Joliet Patch.

According to Joliet, construction of the new El Guero would start this summer and the grocery store would open sometime in 2020. "The developer has provided a letter from a banking institution demonstrating the developer's financial strength, creditworthiness and good standing," city records state.

The city's Economic Development Committee, an advisory panel, has been recommended by city officials to approve a sales tax rebate and property tax abatement for the Supermercados El Guero de Joliet.

Image via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor