A former Mariano’s grocery store in the north suburbs will continue to sit empty after negotiations to bring in beloved local grocer Sunset Foods reached an impasse.
The update about the Mariano’s, at 1822 Willow Rd., was announced during a Feb. 24 Northfield Village Board Meeting, with village president Tracey Mendrek reading in a prepared statement that land owners “worked diligently over the course of the year to secure a new grocery store at the location.”
“As we all know, we were in serious conversations with Sunset Foods,” Mendrek said. “As of this week, the two parties have not been able to reach an agreement on the deal, and both sides have stepped away on the negotiations.”
“Like all of you we are disappointed by this outcome,” Mendrek added “But after 8 months of a vacant storefront, this board must turn our attention to our new solution for the location.”
Last year, Sunset Foods, a locally-owned and popular grocer with North Shore locations in Highland Park, Libertyville, Lake Forest, Long Grove and Northbrook, was a co-applicant along with the Swanson Development Group, the land owner, on a special-use permit to operate a grocery store at the old Mariano’s location.
The grocer was met with applause at the Village of Northfield Plan and Zoning Commission Meeting Aug. 7, with negotiations expected to continue and the village saying it was hopeful that an agreement would be reached.
As part of the plan, Sunset was planning to renovate the interior of the building, with an opening timeline of either late 2026 or spring 2027.
With the grocer not moving forward, Mendrek hinted at different plans for the spot, including a possible Village Center.
“While we have some parameters around small office use in the Village, we really don’t have anything where we’ve considered a larger space or a larger office space,” Mendrek said. She added that the Village Board would take the time to “pause” and review zoning code in Northfield’s Central Business District, in order for the Plan & Zoning Commission to]”make some recommendations back to us.”
NBC Chicago reached out to both Sunset Foods and Swanson Development Group for comment on this story.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/OCidIDT
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