Huntley downtown to get new BBQ restaurant

A popular barbecue restaurant is coming to Huntley's downtown square.

Work is expected to begin within a month on a 12,161-square-foot commercial building at 11708 Coral St., that will house a BBQ King Smokehouse.

It will be the second location for the award-winning Woodstock restaurant, expected to open next spring.

In July, BBQ King Smokehouse won first place at Chicago's Ribfest for the second consecutive year.

Owner Jason Szmurlo of Crystal Lake is purchasing the Huntley property from the village to build a two-story, 7,973-square-foot restaurant, which will be the site's largest tenant. The development will include two other 1,500-square-foot retail tenants. The building will front Coral Street and include a patio area for outdoor dining enclosed by a wrought iron fence.

The village purchased the property for $150,000 from the Huntley American Legion and razed its former structure, known as the Kelley House, due to disrepair before cleaning up the site earlier this year.

It is selling the property for $10 as inducement for its redevelopment, Village Manager Dave Johnson said.

"It's the same thing we did with the Morkes (Chocolate Shop) building," Johnson said.

As a residential property, the village collected less than $100 in yearly revenue. The $2 million redevelopment project approved last month lies within Huntley's downtown tax increment financing district and is part of the village's long-term downtown revitalization effort.

"The village recoups its money by the incremental increase in property taxes and sales tax revenues generated from the site," Johnson said. "At this point, our estimated payback is in about five years.

"It continues the village's commitment to revitalizing the downtown. We believe that it will be a draw to the downtown area that will be beneficial to (the restaurateur) as well as the other businesses in town."