January of every year brings any number of requisite stories on the preceding year. My Sun Day News contacted Huntley Village Manager David Johnson about some 2022 projects that have yet to conclude.
Among the most public unresolved projects is the future of Panera at the southeast corner of Rout 47 and Kreutzer. Johnson said that “Panera has submitted building plans and is currently in the plan review phase. They plan to break ground in the spring.” My Huntley News jokingly asked the tongue in cheek question on the minds of all residents “which year.” No response was expected.
The twelve-million-dollar Kreutzer Road curve project is part of the village’s 2023 budget. According to Johnson, “The Fiscal Year 2023 Village of Huntley budget includes funding for Phase II engineering of the Kreutzer Road widening project east of Route 47 to Haligus Road.”
In January of 2022 Tim Farrell, Huntley’s Director of Public Works, said that “The preliminary phase I engineers estimated construction cost is $7,863,000. Design and Construction Engineering is estimated at approximately $1,423,000. There is anticipated to be an indeterminate amount of land acquisition cost as well.”
“The Rebuild Illinois fund is contributing $1,759,107 to the project” added Farrell.
“We have programmed $1.5 Million from the Federal Surface Transportation Program (STP)” stated Farrell. “We will solicit additional grant funding, but the sources and potential amounts are not yet determined” he added.
The status of the Amazon buildings and their future was questioned. Johnson indicated that “The Amazon Fulfillment Center is now open while construction continues on the Amazon Receive Center on Freeman Road. The two facilities estimate 1,500 new jobs once they are fully operational.” The Fulfillment Center is the larger building north of the one on Freeman.
At the January 20, 2022 Village Board meeting Lisa Armour, Huntley’s Deputy Village Manager, presented a retail store concept she called “Shops on Main”. This was presented as a small business incubator to be developed in the First Congregational Church parking lot at Main and First Streets in downtown Huntley.
At that time Armour reported that the “proposed ten building area will have retail shops that might offer seasonal merchandise.” She added that “the shops would have one-year leases and the proprietors would have one-year leases.”
At the time of the presentation Armour said that the plan called for the shops to be open for the 2022 Christmas selling season.
Johnson reported that “The Village recently received notice that a Community Project Funding grant has been awarded in the amount of $974,843 for the project, we continue planning for the shops to open later this year as we await details of the grant program.”
Lisa Armour, Deputy Village Manager, introduced a resolution at the April 28th Village Board meeting, to approve a contract with The Retail Coach for “conducting a site assessment of the Village’s market trade area and profiling the customer’s buying habits, lifestyle characteristics and media habits.” The one-year contract was for $47,000 with optional years quoted at $30,000.
Armour continued, “the results of the assessment will be used to guide decisions and use of resources to grow the Village’s retail sector and to shape goals for the recruitment of new retail businesses.”
Johnson added, “The Retail Coach continues to reach out to restaurants, retailers and developers with information on the Huntley market in hopes of attracting new, desirable businesses to the community. While there have not been any new lease agreements/businesses as a result of this relationship to date, there has been interest from hotels and businesses with future interest in Huntley. They will continue their outreach efforts for the term of the contract agreement.
