New restaurant in works for long-vacant Glenview corner; board OKs $550K loan

A Glenview restaurateur will get a $550,000 loan from the village to develop a new restaurant per an agreement recently approved by the village board.

The Filling Station, an estimated 80-seat, 2,500-square-foot, full-service restaurant, will be developed at 1148 Waukegan Road and Grove Street.

With a spring 2024 proposed opening, it will replace a former auto service station vacant for 17 years.

Nick Philippas, owner of Glenview's North Branch Pizza & Burger Co. and seven Joe Donuts locations with two in Glenview, submitted development costs of about $2.5 million.

The village, citing "economic gap assistance" to forward downtown development, approved a $550,000 loan out of its permanent fund, at 2% interest over 10 years.

Each year the restaurant would remain open over those 10 years, 10% of the loan would be forgiven. Over the length of the agreement the entire loan amount could be forgiven.

If the restaurant were to close before the end of the term, Philippas would need to repay the remainder from the time of the closing.

The village estimated the restaurant's sales and property taxes would return the cost of its outlay in 15 years, "in addition to having a blighted corner transformed into a vibrant restaurant use," it said.

The agreement was prompted by Trustee Jim Bland's referral to the structured lease arranged for the successful Heinen's Grocery Store.

Glenview Director of Community Development Jeff Brady said the key to this loan agreement is an incentive for the restaurant's continued operation.

"It's structured in such a way that it's beneficial for both parties," he said.

A pair of public speakers didn't see it that way, calling the village expenditure a grant and not a loan.

Trustees unanimously voted to approve the agreement filling a longtime vacancy at what Trustee Mary Cooper called a "primary corner" along Waukegan Road - one of the downtown development sites identified through the Glenview Connect process.

"We've gotten an enormous amount of email from people saying, when are you going to fix this corner," Cooper said. "I know our village has been crying to have this building changed."