After six years of delays and extensions, Oak Park village trustees voted 5-1, with one trustee absent, to approve a 16-month extension for the planned Pete’s Fresh Market at 640-728 Madison St.
This is not the first time the developers have requested an extension, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues and utility work as some of their setbacks. Pete’s will have to pay a $2,000 fee for this extension. It will also face harsher consequences for any future delays.
The new grocery store was supposed to be complete by June 30, 2024, based on an extension approved in January 2023. In January 2024, the project manager, Eugene Grzynkowicz, again said he could not confirm an opening date.
The 16-month extension means the building should be open by December 2025. But Pete’s has broken its promises on opening dates before.
“There are few things in our village that get almost universal frustration,” said Trustee Cory Wesley, the sole dissenter to the extension. “This has been one of them.”
The new amendment
There have been five prior amendments to the redevelopment agreement associated with this project, but not all were related to Pete’s. Some were related to the senior living complex across the street, which opened in October 2022.
The sixth amendment, which trustees approved Tuesday, allows for electric vehicle charging stations on-site, a $22,000 donation to the Oak Park Area Arts Council for temporary art to be displayed during construction and a “claw back remedy,” according to village officials.
The claw back remedy outlines that if building foundation construction does not begin within 100 days of building permits being issued, the village can gain control of the entire property. If that construction does begin within those 100 days but then isn’t completed by the December 2025 deadline, the village can gain control of only part of the property.
This amendment also states that there will be a fee of $16,000 per month if the project is not “under roof” within nine months and a $45,760 fine per month if the project does not have an occupancy permit within the 16-month period. These fines were determined based on the estimated lost village revenue from property and sales taxes for the delayed project, according to village officials.
Most trustees were supportive of this new amendment and conditions. Trustee Lucia Robinson, who voted against an extension for Pete’s in January 2023, said the new conditions help hold the developers accountable and shows the “right amount of urgency.” But Wesley asked for the claw back remedy to include the entire property, even if construction begins within the 100-day deadline.
“If we had this contractual language to ‘all’ [of the property] it would make the village … feel a lot better about [Pete’s] intention, and the skin that you have in the game, and the willingness that you have to complete this on time,” he said.
Pete’s attorney, David Sachs, said at the meeting that he’d have to confer with his client to see if they would be willing to make that concession. Grzynkowicz shook his head no.
“Pete’s is a good neighbor,” Sachs stated, referring to the store already at 259 Lake St. “We’re not just strangers coming into town.”
“Pete’s Market is 100% committed to the project,” Grzynkowicz added. “We are not leaving.”
Village President Vicki Scaman said the village and Pete’s reached a fair contract, including the claw back remedy. She said she believes Pete’s has responded in a way that demonstrates “good faith.”
What’s been done
Pete’s representatives say they’ve invested about $4.3 million into the project already, according to village officials, for utility relocation and site preparation. That includes ComEd, AT&T and Comcast relocation, village water and sewer main relocations, storm sewer system installation, building demolition and environmental remediation.
The developers also claim an additional $3.8 million has been spent already to order supplies for construction and for architectural, engineering and project management needs. That brings the total investment thus far to $8.1 million.
Wesley asked for more “candid” communication from Pete’s in the future, saying the developers had not been transparent in this process and that deadlines have been missed without any “obvious activity on the site.”
Grzynkowicz said in addition to a lack of appropriate permits, losing the site’s architect was another unexpected setback to Pete’s progress.
Emily Egan, the village’s development services director, told Wednesday Journal that Pete’s was working to complete the permitting process. Some contractors complete building permit work all at once, she said, but Pete’s did not.
Egan told the board Tuesday that Pete’s permit for the earth retention system and foundation was approved after three rounds of corrections and could be picked up by the developer pending the permit fee payment of $157,377. Grzynkowicz paid that Aug. 2, village officials told Wednesday Journal.
Trustee Ravi Parakkat asked if the new Aldi coming in Forest Park was a concern for the Pete’s developers. Grzynkowicz said Pete’s does not share the same market as Aldi and he wishes the other new grocery store well.
“A lesser contractor, a lesser business developer [than] Pete’s Market, with the hardships that [we’ve] incurred may have just walked away,” Grzynkowicz said. “That’s not us.”
Grzynkowicz also said Pete’s plans to give the village board more regular updates as progress is underway.
Update, Aug. 5, 2024: This story was updated to include when representatives from Pete’s paid the earth retention system permit fee.
