Oak Parkers may have to wait a bit longer for the new grocery store, Pete’s Fresh Market, to open at the shuttered Dominick’s at 259 Lake St. – and Village President Anan Abu-Taleb isn’t at all happy about it.
The village originally anticipated that Pete’s would open before the end of 2014, but that deadline was pushed back to the end of March. Now, Abu-Taleb says, the company is expecting to open sometime later than that. If the store is not opened by the March 31 deadline, the village, based on a village board vote after press time, could begin to impose fines that would come off the $1.5 million in incentive money.
Stephanie Dremonas, Pete’s executive officer, could not be reached for comment by press time.
Abu-Taleb said he spoke with Dremonas in late August and was told that the March 31 opening deadline is not likely to be met.
The village board agreed in June to give Pete’s a $1.5 million incentive to open the store in Oak Park, but the agreement stated that Pete’s intended to open before the end of 2014.
“As far as I’m concerned we want to have a good relationship with Pete’s Produce, and we want them to succeed,” Abu-Taleb said, adding that, “whatever reason they’re being held up is a legitimate reason from their point of view.”
He noted, however, that, “Decisions like that have consequences.”
Abu-Taleb declined to elaborate on what such consequences might entail.
“We have agreed to extend to them $1.5 million of the taxpayer’s money,” he said. “But that’s based on certain conditions, and if those conditions are not met, then I’m not happy about it.”
The village board was poised on Tuesday to approve an official agreement with Pete’s that includes a so-called failure to complete clause. The clause states that the $1.5 million subsidy could be reduced by $250 per day if the project is not completed by March 31, 2015. If the project is not completed by June 20, the fine is increased to $750 per day. By Sept. 2, 2015 the village board has the right to terminate the incentive agreement with Pete’s and terminate the subsidy entirely, if the store is not open.
Abu-Taleb said he does not want any building in the village to sit vacant for “a day longer than is necessary.”
He said that if the village is in any way responsible for the delay, then he will press for rapid approval of necessary permits.
“We had a deal, and if we fail to provide certain things on our side, they need to hold us accountable,” Abu-Taleb said.
Village Trustee Adam Salzman said in a telephone interview that projects like Pete’s can be tricky to complete on an exact schedule, but the village must craft the agreement in a way that Pete’s owners are not given an indefinite amount of time to open their doors. Salzman said he supported the agreement that was scheduled for a vote at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Village Trustee Colette Lueck said she was not surprised that the grocery store chain was unable to meet its original deadline to open by the end of 2014.
“I thought the deadlines were ambitious to say the least and perhaps not realistic,” Lueck said.
Village spokesman David Powers said initial architectural plans for the grocery store were submitted to the village on June 26. The Permits Processing Division, fire department and health department reviewed the proposed design and provided comments to the grocery store chain’s architect on July 11. He said the village still awaits revised drawings.
He said the village approved a permit for Pete’s to demolish parts of the building’s façade.
“The project is still on track,” Powers said, adding, “It’s not unusual for a project of this size to take some time.