7 Brew proposed for Wheaton near movie theater

A 7 Brew wants to open in south Wheaton more than a year after a drive-through stand set up shop in neighboring Naperville and went on to generate much buzz.

The corner drive-through 7 Brew kiosk off Ogden Avenue has fueled lines of cars with social media hype and a menu of caffeinated drinks served into the night.

In Wheaton, a 7 Brew has been proposed for the west side of East Loop Road between the former Houlihan’s restaurant and the Studio Movie Grill in a portion of the existing parking lot, city staff planner Tracy Jones confirmed.

Wheaton’s planning and zoning board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the potential project on Tuesday, Jan. 27. A chain representative could not be reached for comment.

Last summer, plans for a residential development under a mile from the Naperville 7 Brew — the city later approved the housing project, and it’s now underway at Naper Boulevard and Plank Road — had some area residents expressing concerns about existing traffic.

“As you move through these roads with Tuthill and Plank, with 7 Brew and Costco and all these other commercial kind of entities in place, there is a pretty big noticeable difference on trying to just get through our neighborhood now,” Andrew Serino said at the time.

In July, Naperville City Manager Doug Krieger cited a number of developments that “we believe will help mitigate the challenges created by 7 Brew.”

“Probably the biggest impact will be the opening next month of three new locations in the west and southwestern suburbs,” he told the city council at the time. “You may think that if something's far away, it's not going to make a difference. However … 60% of their customers come from 10 or more miles away from the location, so we believe that that will also provide some relief.”

Jones said there is not yet a city staff recommendation regarding the proposed 7 Brew. She said she anticipates a discussion on traffic during the public hearing set for later this month.

According to a public notice, the zoning application is asking the city to allow the construction and use of a one-story, 515-square-foot stand with a separate, smaller cooler or storage building on a leased parcel of land in the Rice Lake Square shopping center parking lot.