Sugar Beet food cooperative is in lease negotiations for a ground-level retail space at the corner of Madison Street and Grove Avenue, 820 W. Madison, below the newly constructed Grove Apartments, Tom Hollinden, a core committee member of the co-op, confirmed Monday.
Hollinden said in a telephone interview that the co-op has a signed letter of intent for the 5,300-square-foot retail location, but lawyers are still negotiating a 10-year lease agreement. The co-op is in the midst of raising the funds necessary to open the store.
“We’ve only had the lease offer for three days,” he said, adding, “My hope is that we can have a finalized lease structure that can be acceptable to both parties.”
He said negotiations could take another three to six weeks, and if a deal is struck, Sugar Beet hopes to open its doors to customers by late 2014 or early 2015.
Hollinden said Sugar Beet still has a number of properties under consideration if the deal for Madison Street location falls through.
The food co-op, once opened will be owned and managed by members of the community and will sell food by local farmers and producers.
The location is below the Grove Apartments, a LEED-certified, 52-unit affordable housing complex that opened in October. The housing complex is a joint project by Interfaith Housing Development Corporation of Chicago and Oak Park Housing Authority. The apartment complex is fully occupied, according to a news release by IHDC and OPHA.
Perry Vietti, chief operating officer for Interfaith, which is the sole owner of the apartment complex and street-level storefront, said in an email that the co-op would benefit residents and neighbors of the new housing complex.
“As a retail establishment that promotes sustainability, Sugar Beet would dovetail nicely with our sustainable LEED certified building,” he said. “We are hopeful that both parties will agree upon lease terms in the coming weeks.”
Hollinden said the potential location was attractive to the co-op due to the opportunity to help revitalize the Madison Street business district.
“Another reason we really like this site is Interfaith [Housing Development Corporation] is going to be a real help to our community,” Hollinden said.
Hollinden and other Sugar Beet organizers told village trustees last month that the co-op still needs to raise $1.6 million to get the store opened.
The location is within the Madison Street Tax Increment Financing District, and co-op organizers plan to submit a formal request for TIF money to help open the store. Hollinden said in December that Sugar Beet will launch a capital campaign this year and already has secured private donation pledges of 10 percent of the needed funding.
Sugar Beet Co-op co-founder Cheryl Munoz said in a news release announcing the lease negotiations that the group has been working for the last two months to secure funds to lease the space.
“In eight weeks we have secured almost $200,000 in pledges that will make this important step possible and get us well on our way to opening our community co-op in early 2015,” she said.