Fresh Thyme, Burlington construction to resume in Geneva
Fans of Fresh Thyme Farmers Market and Burlington stores, rejoice: The legal dispute that halted their construction in Geneva has come to an end.
With that, the Burlington apparel store should be ready to open in August, and Fresh Thyme grocery in January, according to the city's economic development director, Cathleen Tymoszenko.
The news was announced Monday at Geneva's city council meeting.
The warring owners of two lots in the Fabyan Crossing shopping center signed agreements Friday, according to documents filed with the Kane County recorder of deeds.
As part of the agreement, Wauconda LLC has agreed to let Geneva Center 2015 build a store or restaurant, likely an Oberweis Dairy outlet, on part of its lot. It also has agreed to pay Geneva Center 2015 $25,000 a year for the right to sell beer, wine and liquor, and to operate a snack bar in the Fresh Thyme.
"We hope they will be able to move forward together in a unified approach," Tymozenko said.
Wauconda LLC got permission last year from the city to remodel a former Dominick's grocery store and turn it into the Burlington store and the Fresh Thyme. The Dominick's had been vacant since 2013, when the chain went out of business.
Geneva Center 2015 LLC, which owns the site of the former Gander Mountain to the south, got a court order in the fall to stop the construction.
Geneva Center received the city's approval in December to convert the ex-Gander Mountain into an At Home home furnishings store. Wauconda LLC filed its own suit, asking a Kane County judge to halt that construction, but the request was denied in February.
The legal dispute was largely about who had the authority to allow Burlington and Fresh Thyme to move in. Geneva Center 2015 contended it had that power under the terms of a 1993 agreement for the development and operation of the whole five-lot shopping center.
It contended Wauconda LLC did not seek its permission, and that Wauconda's plans could interfere with Geneva Center 2015's attempts to get a tenant for its own vacant property, such as a Mariano's grocery store.
The other three lots, once owned by the original developer, are now owned by separate entities. They house a McDonald's, a Best Buy and an O'Reilly Auto Parts stores.