Capannari Ice Cream gets lease extension from Mount Prospect

When the Village of Mount Prospect leased a former general store building in 2001 to Capannari Ice Cream, it proved a sweet deal for all concerned.

On Tuesday, the village board extended the lease for the store at 10 S. Pine St. for another five years with a five-year extension option.

The rent for the first year will be $21 per square foot gross and will increase annually at a rate equal to the Consumer Price Index. That means the business initially will pay $1,575 per month in rent — $18,900 annually — and pick up the tab for all water and sewer charges, telephone, gas, electric, garbage collection fees and insurance premiums for the 900-square-foot building. The previous annual rent was $18,333.

Since the village entered into the original agreement, Capannari's has earned plaudits as the “Best Ice Cream in Chicago” from Chicago Magazine. Recently, Capannari's purchased a warehouse building in the Kensington Business Center to manufacture its product.

“They have been a great addition to the downtown,” said Community Development Director Bill Cooney. “They are one of the landmarks and big draws of our downtown every summer.”

Trustee Paul Hoefert remembered when the village first considered the lease in 2001.

“For those that remember, the general store sat where LePeep restaurant is. The big thing was moving it. So we got it moved, and then here it is, sitting in its new site. It was kind of decrepit,” he said. At the point, he said, the worry was what to do with it.

That is when Ken Dix and Katie Dolan Dix, who started the business along with Jim and Meg Capannari, came forward with the proposal for the ice cream parlor, which, Hoefert said, “was perfect. Because that building used to sell ice cream at one point.”

However, Hoefert, who is in the banking industry, said, “As a lender, I will tell you, I have lent to a couple of ice cream shops, and it didn't go so well. So, I remember saying to them, 'This is a tough business.' They said, 'No, we got the formula.' Here we are 15 years later. It's a landmark business, not just for Mount Prospect, but for the North and Northwest suburbs for sure.”

“We are happy to be here another five years, possibly 10,” Katie Dolan Dix said. “The warehouse is up and running. So another exciting part of our business is just getting started. And the retail is continuing on.”