Fox River Grove continues to seek developers

While the good news in Fox River Grove is that the new Metra station will be built sometime this summer, the village is not having any success yet in attracting high-end condominium developers to downtown, Village President Robert Nunamaker said Thursday.

Nunamaker was the keynote speaker at the Fox River Grove Business Roundtable, sponsored by the Cary Grove Area Chamber of Commerce. About 60 people attended th luncheon.

Plans to develop high-end condominiums and rental units behind the train station at 4015 N. Northwest Hwy. “are being shopped around to various builders,” Nunamaker said. Finding a developer for high-end condominiums and restaurants by the Route 14 bridge over the Fox River “is not going to happen until the economy improves quite a bit,” he added.

The business district across from the train station has a few new tenants, Nunamaker said. The village is looking into partnering with the American Academy of Art, in Chicago, to beautify the area with a mural competition.

The district, however, needs a “main anchor tenant,” he said, adding that last week he talked to representatives of Moretti’s restaurant, who said they might consider the matter in 2012, he said.

Other new businesses in the village include El Sarape Mexican restaurant, Jimano’s Pizzeria, Sio Garden Chinese Thai restaurant, and the Dollar Plus Party Store, Nunamaker said.

A new shopping center at 910 N. Northwest Hwy. will have six stores, including a Pep Boys auto store. “Geez, do we really need another auto repair shop? Probably not, but that’s not our business,” Nunamaker said, alluding to recent complaints by local auto shop owners.

Plans for the new Metra station have been “designed, bid and funded,” said Nunamaker, who serves on Metra’s citizens advisory board.

Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said the agency is waiting for bond money from the state in order to build the new station, whose design includes two new warming stations — the inbound one equipped with restrooms and vending machines — and a longer, eight-car platform.

Financially, Fox River Grove will be “in fair shape” as soon as the state releases about $130,000 it owes to the village in income taxes, Nunamaker said. The village currently has 11 months’ worth of expenses in reserves, or about $1.8 million, he said.

The village’s share of sales tax revenues bottomed out in the second quarter of 2010, falling to just below $100,000, according to charts provided by Nunamaker. Gains in both the third and fourth quarters brought those numbers to $120,000 and $115,000 in sales taxes respectively, exceeding revenues for the same period in 2009.

Developers John Opatrny and Ted Wagner, of Fox River Grove Limited Partnership, were honored with a business award at the luncheon.