Tuscan Plaza on track in downtown Yorkville

• $6.5 million project: 20 condo units, six retail storefronts possible by spring

December 08, 2007
By Rowena Vergara Staff Writer

YORKVILLE -- Gary Cervelli wants to see more than just empty storefronts and forgotten buildings when he peers down at downtown Yorkville from his second-floor real estate office.

When Cervelli and his wife, Donna, open Tuscan Plaza, a three-story, mixed-used development of retail and condominiums in downtown Yorkville, he hopes residents will stroll along the Fox River and fill future shops and restaurants expected to come.

"There are benefits to whoever lives there. They can just about walk to everything," Cervelli said.

The $6.5 million project will include six retail storefronts on the first floor and 10 upscale condos each on the second and third floors. Of the 20 condos said to be available, 13 already have been sold, Cervelli said. Prices range from $150,000 to $295,000 per unit.

Cervelli is hoping to lure a variety of retailers such as an ice cream shop, a children's clothing store, a candy shop or a deli. The project at 201 S. Bridge St. could open by next spring.

Tuscan Plaza is considered to be Yorkville's first major downtown condominium development, which likely will be joined by many more projects in the coming years.

The city created a "vision plan" for downtown in 2005, which calls for shops and condominiums, riverfront restaurants and walkways, a community center, a new city hall and a performing-arts center.

The project is included in a tax increment financing district that was created last year to spur development. The city has agreed to award up to $1.8 million in TIF dollars to the project once it is completed.

The Cervellis own Tuscan Real Estate, a longtime real estate firm which has had an office in Yorkville for five years.

rvergara@scn1.com