By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
LOVES PARK — Construction is underway on an Aldi’s grocery store at the southwest corner of Forest Hills Road and Riverside Boulevard.
The Aldi’s at 5910 N. Second St. will relocate to the new site, providing the grocer with more space and potential customer traffic, Mayor Greg Jury said.
“It’s going to be right next to Walmart, just like CVS is next to Walgreens, so we feel that’s going to help them,” Jury said. It also benefits the city because of its potential to generate more sales and therefore sales tax, he said.
The new store is expected to open early next year, company representatives said.
Aldi’s will share the corner with Boxed Up self-storage, which filled the former Sears Essential that closed in 2011, and frontage businesses that include Taco Bell and Starbucks.
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The new construction for the grocer is the culmination of a development deal city officials entered with First Midwest Group, the developer that owns the property, five years ago. First Midwest can earn up to $4.5 million in tax incentives from taxes generated at the property, which sits inside a business development district and tax-increment finance district.
Business districts impose an additional 1% tax on sales with the revenue being used for redevelopment. A TIF district captures tax revenue from increased property values in a special fund for improvements.
Bringing a grocery store to the corner has been in First Midwest Group and its founder Sunil Puri’s plans since the onset of the development deal, Jury said. In fact, an early draft of the plan had Aldi’s name penciled in, he said.
“The whole thing Sunil and his team told us was going to happen, has happened, and we’re excited about it obviously,” Jury said. “This has turned out exactly how we planed it and we’re hoping Mr. Puri and his team move around and keep hitting other spots in the city.”
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This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.