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Grocery store 'long time coming' to south Naperville corner

A new grocery store and a five-space retail building will be bringing more life to a southwest Naperville development that's long been the site of much planning and attention.

The Fresh Market, a grocer with seven stores in the suburban area, has expressed interest in the Naperville Crossings site at Route 59 and 95th Street and will be constructing a shop there pending approval of a building permit, said Jon Stafford, Midwest real estate manager.

The construction will bring new shopping options to an area long envisioned as Naperville's second downtown, a 75-acre site that has yet to be built out to its full capacity.

"We're all very happy that you are bringing this use," city council member Judith Brodhead said about the grocery store. "Lots of things have been a long time coming on that corner."

The 25,000-square-foot grocery store and five retail shops yet to be named will be built on 9.5 acres north of Cantore Road on the west side of Route 59.

The buildings will include outdoor dining areas, wide sidewalks and a small pedestrian plaza in keeping with decade-old plans that called for a walkable, pedestrian-friendly development. Residents at The Oaks, a 298-unit apartment complex on the Naperville Crossings site, will be among those who can walk to the new stores once they're built.

"We have some very wide sidewalks and nice landscaping and planters and pavers," developer Adam Firsel of ECF Properties said. "It will continue to be pedestrian-friendly and even more so and more spacious than the rest of the development."

Council member John Gallaher said he was "a little disappointed" that the development offers 2 percent less open space than was called for in original designs.

But city staff members said the plazas, outdoor dining and gathering spaces now in the plans are designed to be useful, not just meet some magic number.

"We looked to make sure that the open space they are providing is meaningful open space, so that it's actually providing some usable areas that people can sit in and access rather than just having a patch of grass to satisfy the additional requirement," said Allison Laff, planning services team leader.

Despite the difference in open space, city staff members recommended the buildings and council members approved them unanimously.

"We thought that the grocery store in particular very closely met what was intended for this area," Laff said.

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