Costco closer to reality in St. Charles

A proposal to build a Costco wholesale store in St. Charles cleared its first hurdle Tuesday with a favorable recommendation from the city plan commission.

The panel voted 6-0 to recommend final approval of the 154,000-square-foot retail outlet by the city council.

"If everything goes right, we're hoping to open by the end of this year," said Theodore Johnson, development manager for Costco projects in the Midwest.

The proposal calls for a Costco warehouse and detached gas station on about 15 acres on the west side of Randall Road, just south of Route 64 and an existing Harley-Davidson dealership.

Johnson said the store would be slightly larger than the most of the other 12 suburban Costcos, but the merchandise would be largely the same. The members-only gas station would consist of several pumps, but no convenience store, he said. There would be 628 parking spaces with room to create an employee lot, if needed.

Plan commissioners offered mostly positive feedback about the proposal, although Doug Anderson said he didn't care for the somewhat minimalist building design, which includes windows around only the entrance, facing Randall Road.

"I personally would like to see something more dressed up," Anderson said.

Others, however, said they were satisfied with the design because of extensive landscaping proposed around the building, setbacks and other features that might make the store more attractive.

"This is a very good-looking Costco," commissioner Paul Lencioni said. "You're all set up to run as a Costco and ready to do a good job."

Founded in 1976 as Price Club, Costco is a membership-only discount department store similar to Wal-Mart's Sam's Club. It is based in Washington state.

According to Costco's Web site, there are 12 stores within 50 miles of Chicago; the closest stores to St. Charles are in Naperville and Bloomingdale.

St. Charles officials could approve plans for the new store as early as next month. The proposal will first go before the planning and development committee March 10, with a final city council vote slated for one week later, officials said.