Coffee coming to Arlington Hts. downtown depot

Coffee will soon be brewing in the Arlington Heights downtown train station.

And it will continue to brew at the Arlington Park station, but that shop will be charged a lower rent.

Biggby Coffee hopes to open a small coffee stand early in November in the downtown station, Tim Mickelson, owner of the franchise, told the Arlington Heights village board on Monday.

The 350-square-foot space with the walk-up window is on the track side of the station, he said.

The space has been vacant for at least a few years, said Village Manager Bill Dixon.

Village staff approached Biggby Coffee after trying for quite a while to rent the space. The lease calls for the company to give the village 75 percent of the money paid for the first 50 cups of coffee sold each day, less taxes. In addition the company will turn over 3 percent of the price received for other coffee and items sold.

Biggby opened a shop at 21 S. Dunton Ave. in late June. That shop will continue to operate, with the depot shop a satellite location.

"The village's primary objective was to secure a coffee/bakery operation for the train station with the rental income a secondary consideration," a village report said.

At the Arlington Park station, Java Depot, a tenant since 2005, requested a rent reduction because of the economic downturn.

Accordingly, the base rent for the next five years was reduced from $465 to $400 per month for 261 square feet.