Wheeling awards $50,000 grant to incoming Scooter’s Coffee franchise

A Scooter’s Coffee franchise coming to Wheeling this fall will get $50,000 from the village to renovate the vacant building it will occupy.

The village board on Monday unanimously approved the grant from Wheeling’s Restaurant, Entertainment, and Build-Out Grant Program.

The store is planned for 310 N. Milwaukee Ave. That’s a brown, 800-square-foot building at the northwest corner of Milwaukee and East Strong Street.

A Starbucks store operated there from 2003 to 2022, village officials said.

It relocated to 751 N. Milwaukee Ave., a more high-profile location near the Westin Chicago North Shore hotel.

Whereas the Starbucks had outdoor seating and a walk-up window, Scooter’s only serves drive-through customers.

A Chicago-based limited liability company called Kava Java will operate the franchise.

More than $400,000 in renovations are planned, said Len Becker, the village’s economic development director.

Village officials expect the shop will open by Nov. 1.

Wheeling’s business grant program reimburses entrepreneurs for up to half the cost of a renovation or improvement project. Grants are limited to commercial buildings within Wheeling’s tax increment financing districts, which use property tax revenue to raise money for public improvements. The grant money comes from those funds.

Dozens of businesses have received grants since the program launched in 2005.

Founded in Nebraska in 1998, Scooter’s Coffee expanded into Illinois in 2021, initially in downstate communities. There now are more than 800 stores nationwide. In this region, they can be found in Mundelein, Naperville, Bolingbrook and elsewhere. A Scooter’s Coffee shop has been proposed for Deer Park, too.