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.
A sign has recently been placed at the proposed location and it states that the shops would be open in 2023.
My Huntley News contacted Armour about the delay in opening. She responded, “When the shops were originally discussed, we had hoped they would be ready to go late this year; however, we have a number of additional large-scale projects taking place in the downtown and we are still working through the design details for the shops.”
She was asked if there were any interested tenants and Armour replied, “We have had a few potential tenants express an interest; we will begin promoting the opportunity later this fall to identify interested parties.”
The company known as The Retail Coach has a contract with the Village to help develop new businesses. Armour was asked if the Retail Coach would be involved in finding tenants? “No, The Retail Coach is focused on finding tenants for permanent locations with an emphasis on the Rt. 47 commercial corridor,” was her response.
When asked about expectations for the project now that it is in its eighth month, Armour replied, “We have a funding opportunity available for the project through Congresswoman Underwood’s office. We submitted a grant application in the spring and the project made it through the initial review round through the House legislative committee. This project, along with others advanced through this particular funding opportunity, must still be approved by the full House, and then the Senate, and that may take until early next calendar year. As we wait to hear the final outcome for this request, we continue to work with our design consultants to put together final plans.”
