By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The new owners of Rockford Plaza on Charles Street plan to demolish an underutilized outparcel and build a new freestanding Starbucks.
Real Estate Affiliates Inc., which purchased the plaza for $7.67 million in May, won City Council approval this week for a special-use permit to operate the drive-thru coffee shop at 602 Hollister Ave.
“We believe Starbucks will be a wonderful addition to Rockford Plaza and the surrounding community,” Alan Gottlieb of Real Estate Affiliates wrote in a letter to city officials. “We are excited to bring a fantastic national tenant to the center such as Starbucks and look forward to working with the city to make Rockford Plaza a thriving and successful center.”
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The company plans to demolish the 17,000-square-foot building that houses Eyedeal Optical and City Nails and relocate those to other nearby spaces in the center. The businesses occupy about 3,450 square feet of the total building space. The company says the move will cause no interruption to the business and be done at no cost to the business owners.
A new freestanding 2,550-square-foot Starbucks will be built in its place.
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The company says reducing the square footage will allow for more parking, provide better visibility to the center from the street, expand landscaped areas and remove a building that has flooded several times from a flood zone.
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“Most importantly, Starbucks will bring revised energy and vitality to the center which will be a great benefit to existing tenants and the surrounding community,” Gottlieb wrote. “As the new owners of Rockford Plaza, we are excited to be a part of the Rockford community and the opportunity to utilize our development expertise to update and revitalize Rockford Plaza, a center rich in Rockford history.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas