Wendy's, Taco Bell proposed for vacant Arlington Heights corner
Fast foodies may soon be able to get their junior bacon cheeseburgers and gorditas on the south side of Arlington Heights.
Village trustees voted 6-1 Monday night to allow village staff to begin negotiations with a developer that has proposed building free-standing Wendy's and Taco Bell restaurants on a 1.4-acre site at the northeast corner of Arlington Heights and Golf roads.
Brothers John and Nicholas Kallergis of The Twins Group have offered $1 million for the village-owned land, which has been vacant for years and once contained a gas station, restaurant and strip mall.
The brothers, who own and operate 42 Taco Bell franchises in the Midwest, plan to relocate their existing Taco Bell on Algonquin Road east of New Wilke Road in Arlington Heights. They would team with Wendy's franchise owner Michael Hamra, who would build his restaurant on the other half of the Arlington Heights/Golf property.
The restaurants would cost $2.8 million to construct. When complete, they would generate an estimated $3 million in annual sales.
The village board selected the Kallergis brothers' proposal over two others: a $1.2 million offer from Troutman & Dams LLC to relocate the nearby McDonald's on Golf Road and add a dual drive-through; and $1.2 million from Strategic Real Estate Services Corp. and Paragon Real Estate to build a 9,780-square-foot strip mall.
Bill Enright, the village's deputy director of planning and community development, said the potential relocation of McDonald's could have resulted in a vacancy at the existing location at 45 E. Golf Road were the burger chain to have exercised a noncompete clause, deterring other fast food restaurants.
As for the strip mall proposal, Enright said no tenants had been lined up yet, making it hard to project sales figures.
The Wendy's and Taco Bell proposal, Enright said, was the "most sure" and had the "least risk" of all three offers.
Trustee Bert Rosenberg was the lone "no" vote, arguing that the corner is a gateway to the village and should have something more aesthetically pleasing than a fast food drive-through.
The restaurants could be open by late 2017.