Elk Grove finalizes deal to fill vacant grocery with Planet Fitness, store
Elk Grove Village officials announced Tuesday the completion of a redevelopment agreement that will bring a Planet Fitness health club and a grocery store or "hypermart" to the spot once occupied by Dominick's and then Joe Caputo & Sons in the Elk Grove Town Center.
The deal provides for up to $2 million in incentives through the existing Grove Mall tax increment financing district, to be paid over four years. The funding is contingent upon the occupancy of Planet Fitness and the opening and continued operation of the second tenant.
Mayor Craig Johnson said Tuesday negotiations regarding that second tenant are ongoing and the village is not yet ready to disclose the store's identity. A village statement about the redevelopment agreement indicates the business will be a grocery store, liquor store or "hypermart" - a combination supermarket/department store - that will use 54,000 square feet of the former grocery store.
Planet Fitness, Johnson said, could open its 18,000-square-foot health club as early as October.
The village hopes Planet Fitness and eventually the second store "breathe new life" into the Town Center, on the southwest corner of Biesterfield and Arlington Heights roads.
"We think it will bring a bit of a jolt to the center and get more foot traffic in there," Johnson said, adding that it's a matter of "when, not if" a second tenant is announced.
The incentives come from a TIF district, in which property taxes that go to local governments are frozen at a certain level for 23 years, and any taxes generated above that go back into the development.
According to the village, officials have reached out to numerous businesses to generate interest in the Town Center and has attempted to work with the property owner on plans for filling the site. Until earlier this year, the lease on the site was held by Albertson's, whose interest limited development options, village officials say.
The Joe Caputo & Sons grocery store closed in February 2016.