Wauconda commissions study fill vacant Dominick’s site
Wauconda officials hope a newly commissioned retail and market study could help fill a former Dominick’s Finer Foods supermarket that’s been closed for nearly a decade.
The aim is to identify possible tenants for the 72,385-square-foot space at 600 W. Liberty St. The building is in the Wauconda Crossings shopping center at routes 12 and 176.
DK Mallon, an Elmhurst company, will conduct the study. The deal calls for the firm to be paid $15,000 for the analysis, which also will include sales projections for potential businesses.
The village board unanimously approved the contract Tuesday night.
“The ultimate goal is to provide jobs, shopping convenience, and potential sales tax revenue from this long-vacant site,” Trustee John Barbini told the Daily Herald on Wednesday.
The Dominick’s store closed in 2004, one of 12 that parent company Safeway Inc. shuttered that year. Safeway pulled out of the Chicago-area market in 2013, closing the rest of the Dominick’s stores here.
Inland Real Estate has owned the shopping center since 2006.
A Walgreens drugstore and a Dollar Store are among the other tenants in the center.
Through the years, Wauconda officials have reached out to Office Max, Aldi, Fresh Market and other retailers about moving into the empty store, but nothing has materialized.
It’s been an occasional topic of discussion at village board and committee meetings, especially recently as officials developed a special taxing district for that part of town.
The borders of that zone create a wedge bounded by Route 176 on the north and Barrington Road on the east. It also stretches west past Route 12, so it includes the supermarket building.
“I believe this will help spark additional interest not only on this site, but also with the entire (taxing) district,” Trustee Lincoln Knight said.