Fidelity wants to use first-floor spot in Naperville’s old Barnes & Noble building, raising some concerns

When Barnes & Noble closed the book on its downtown Naperville store, it left a sizable void at the gateway corner of Washington Street and Chicago Avenue.

About a year later, Fidelity Investments has proposed using a portion of that building. But the plan has set off a broader discussion about the downtown environment and what types of businesses belong at street level.

“Yes, you're coming to a prosperous community, but downtown is where people want action. It's where they want to be. It's where our retailers meet their greatest successes,” resident Mary Lou Wehrli told the city’s planning and zoning commission last week.

Fidelity wants to occupy about 2,437 square feet of first-floor space in addition to a larger, second-floor office space. Fidelity currently has a branch in Naperville's Freedom Commons.

“The property was deliberately chosen for its visibility and downtown location to increase Fidelity's customer base in the area,” said Caitlyn Culbertson, an attorney representing Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC.

Fidelity is asking the city for a zoning variance for the first-floor portion of the proposed business. Naperville’s municipal code restricts what are called “general service uses” in the downtown core district to the second floor or above. Financial institutions are considered to be a general service and are not permitted on the first floor.

“The ground-floor area that we're proposing to use in this limited portion of this building is not designed or well suited for a traditional retail layout,” Culbertson said. “The layout and size of the ground floor make it ideal to serve” Fidelity’s walk-in customers while also providing access to the second-floor area of the building, she added.

The bookstore had defined the downtown corner since the 1990s.

“I’d much rather that building be something else families can enjoy together when they visit the downtown area,” Simona Vick, who grew up in Darien and now lives in Naperville, wrote in an email to the city.

Wells Fargo Bank also is expected to open in the building. The city considers “more traditional walk-in-customer focused” retail banking to be commercial services, which are permitted on the first floor in the same downtown district, according to commission documents.

“That main part of the Barnes & Noble building is going to be a Wells Fargo,” said Mark Wright, a commissioner. “It’s a retail bank. We will not have an opportunity to speak on that. We don’t have a say in that. They have the opportunity to go into that space by right.”

Fidelity has 45 employees “dedicated to building relationships within the Naperville community and Naperville families,” said Sean Adair, branch leader of its investor center in Freedom Commons.

Most commissioners cast an advisory vote in favor of Fidelity’s request. Commissioner Meghna Bansal, who voted “no,” said “parking, crowding, the dense population was a little bit concerning” and called it a “very prime location.”

Wright, however, reiterated that the first-floor spot is a “sliver of the Barnes & Noble space.”

“I can tell you, this space would be really hard to lease. It’s very narrow. It’s very long,” Commissioner Tom Castagnoli said.

Wright also suggested that having Fidelity employees downtown would support businesses.

“They complain about not having lunch traffic. Well, it's because our office buildings are empty, right? So we need to get some … action into these office buildings where people are bringing clients in and entertaining,” Wright said. “And I think that overall, that helps the downtown retailers, the current downtown retailers.

“Don't get me wrong, I would love to see more retail in downtown Naperville,” Wright added, “but we got to get people that … will shop at these locations.”

Washington Street has been the focus of reconstruction and streetscape improvements, the city said in a news release last fall announcing new businesses.

Commissioner Derek McDaniel said he hopes that once the Washington Street bridge opens up, “we would see that foot traffic just continue to pick up.”

Barnes & Noble, meanwhile, is plotting a sequel: The chain is slated to return to downtown Naperville in the former Pottery Barn space.