Joliet Starbucks: New Drive-Thru Proposed

JOLIET, IL — Joliet's North Ridge Plaza on North Larkin Avenue will be adding a Starbucks drive-thru restaurant if the Joliet City Council approves the project next week. The council could vote on the drive-thru permit during Tuesday's regular meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m.

According to city records, the Starbucks Restaurant would be located at 1550 N. Larkin Avenue Unit C. The new construction project also has the support from several of Joliet's top department heads including interim city manager Jim Hock.

"I think this is a great addition for the North Ridge Plaza," city of Joliet economic development specialist Derek Conley told Joliet Patch's editor on Thursday. "We're excited to have a Starbucks in that area and I think it goes well with the Vasa Fitness that is going into the old Ultra Foods building."

The Starbucks project will mark the second major development project within the North Ridge Plaza this year. In January, Joliet Patch broke the news that Vasa Fitness had purchased the Ultra Foods store that had been sitting vacant the past three years. The new Joliet Starbucks would be built on one of the outlots near the future Vasa Fitness, city maps reflect.

Conley said Vasa Fitness has already made significant interior renovations to the former grocery store building. However, with the pandemic still impacting so many businesses, the Joliet Vasa Fitness probably won't open for business until sometime in 2021, he said.