Yorkville Economic Development Corporation - What's New

What's New

Target, Home Depot, movie theater coming to Yorkville
Along Route 34: Major shopping center expected by 2008

YORKVILLE — Area shoppers, get ready to open your wallets.

A 14-screen movie theater, a Target and a Home Depot are scheduled to open at Route 34 and Cannonball Trail by 2008, according to developers and the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation.

A plan for an 850,000-square-foot shopping center also includes major clothing stores, an electronics store, a bookstore, restaurants, specialty boutiques and a courtyard with a reflecting pool, said Lynn Dubajic of the Economic Development Corporation and Rick Filler of Chicago-based Harlem Irving Companies, a partner in the venture.

That kind of mix of shopping, dining, entertainment and public space is unprecedented in Kendall County, Dubajic said.

"We are very pleased to see it happening for the very first time in Yorkville," she said.

Harlem Irving and Oakbrook-based Mid-America Development Partners purchased close to 200 acres of Yorkville farmland last month, but did not confirm plans for the space until this week.

Tax base would increase

If the development goes as scheduled, Yorkville residents will see their weekend options expand considerably. The planned multiplex would fill the void created when the Countryside Theater closed in 2004, and residents would no longer have to leave town to see a film on the big screen.

In addition, dining options in town would more than double, and the Target and the department store would likely attract hoards of high school students, who listed those venues as their top priorities during a 2004 study.

City officials, meanwhile, are most impressed by the prospect of new revenue streams. Sales taxes from the center would benefit the city, while the schools could collect real estate taxes without the accompanying expense of new students.

"When we start looking at the costs of schools and public buildings, one of the ways to offset some of those costs is by building upon your tax base, and this is one way to do it," said Mayor Art Prochaska, adding that the center would "help keep the balance in development between residential and commercial."

Homes also planned

Some single-family homes and townhomes are planned for the area north of the shopping center, which Mid-America and Harlem Irving expect to sell to a residential developer. The two companies also agreed to create a buffer of trees, fencing and even possibly a stream, between the shopping center and nearby subdivisions, said Chairman Tom Lindblom of the Plan Commission, which reviewed the blueprint for the center this week.

The City Council may get its first look at the blueprint Tuesday evening. There are still many hurdles before the shopping sprees can begin — including collecting public input and rezoning the land, which is currently designated for agricultural use — but Lindblom was optimistic that the center will sprout as planned.

"Nothing's guaranteed in this life," he said. "But we thought (the plan) was very well done."

04/29/06