West Dundee eyeing neighborhood store for redevelopment

The impending closure of a neighborhood store has West Dundee officials looking ahead to the potential revitalization of the site.

The building at 200 Washington St. was purchased by the village in 2006, several years before the Dundee Supermart moved into the first-floor retail space, Village President Chris Nelson said. The intention always has been to redevelop the riverfront property, which is in need of "substantial reinvestment," he said, but plans stalled during the economic downtown.

It came as no surprise to Nelson when Dundee Supermart owners notified the village that they would cease operations by Sept. 30. Building tenants, which also include a hair salon, have been kept on a month-to-month lease so that the village wouldn't have to buy out contracts if a feasible redevelopment proposal was brought forward, he said.

"The business owners understood that, and they understand that it is one of the reasons why the village has not improved the site," Nelson said. "While we're grateful for the market having operated there for some time, this outcome was expected."

The property has garnered interest from several developers in recent years, Nelson said. He anticipates a redevelopment project to come to fruition within the next year or two, but it likely won't include any commercial space.

A strictly residential use is more appropriate for the site, Nelson said, because of its location along a low-volume road and its proximity to single-family homes. He also would prefer the development to contain owner-occupied units rather than rentals.

"One of the facts that we as a community, and Northern Kane (County) as a region, need to face is that if we are going to have vibrant commercial properties, we need to increase density," Nelson said. "We need to have more people living in the area and working in the area."

Before a project would be considered, he said, developers would have to find the right formula for the building's size, style and number of units. West Dundee officials want the development to fit in with the rest of the neighborhood, while also complementing the nearby Fox River and downtown Main Street.

"The unique setting presents an exciting opportunity to plan for potential redevelopment in a fashion that would be compatible with and additive to the residential neighborhood and downtown," Community Development Director Tim Scott said.