Behind the scenes, First Street making great progress

A motorist driving by probably couldn't tell, but the third phase of St. Charles' massive First Street redevelopment project is arguably one of the more successful retail outlets still in development.

"There's not a retail center in the suburban Chicago market that has gone from zero to 80 percent leased in the last 12 months," said Bob Rasmussen, one of the partners in the development group. "We have."

Indeed, the second phase of the project welcomed a new downtown parking deck and a retail area known as The Plaza to the city. The Plaza began with a bakery as its only retail tenant. Then came a jewelry store.

But in early 2010, shoppers and diners will have a new sushi and stir fry restaurant (Wok 'n Fire), a new Greek breakfast eatery (The Prasino) that specializes in "green" dining, and a new beauty salon (Aveda) and separate nail salon.

"These are all the right mix of tenants," said Rasmussen, who also lives in St. Charles. And more tenants already under contract will be announced soon.

Rasmussen said the key has been St. Charles itself. He said the city has done a great job creating a downtown that actually looks like a downtown.

"It has the feeling of a home," Rasmussen said. "The downtown just feels better. It looks better. You go to a strip mall and it's just a strip mall. Businesses want to come here."

Recent ability to lock in new tenants for The Plaza has Rasmussen's eyes turned to the third phase of the $101 million project, which eventually will create three new buildings downtown for office, retail and residential use. It was supposed to be in heavy construction, according to the original plan, but the bad economy stymied progress. With the help of the city, Rasmussen and his team are hopeful financing through the federal stimulus plan will help kick-start forward movement once again.

"It takes a lot to get a deal done right now," Rasmussen said. "The economy hasn't devastated us because we made the decision early on not to build the third phase (when it was scheduled). It was just the smartest thing that anybody could have done. If we built it, the project may have failed."

The city will make a decision on declaring itself a "Recovery Zone" and the borrowing processes to help First Street over the next several months.