Craft beer store on tap for downtown Grayslake
A new liquor store is headed to downtown Grayslake after the village board approved giving its owners an economic incentive package worth $21,000.
The owners of Beer Bazaar, a craft beer-focused store currently in Hainesville, plan to renovate the building at 107-109 Center St. and open a new location there.
In addition to selling package liquor, Beer Bazaar will serve craft beer and wine to patrons. One side of the store will have rows of beer, wine and spirits, as well as a large walk-in cooler, and the other will feature a small bar with tables and chairs for patrons, according to village documents.
"It's a type of business that is in demand but we're not seeing too many of them in the area," Grayslake Mayor Rhett Taylor said. "They've become a destination business."
Taylor said the owners have been flexible with the village on how they will offer alcohol to patrons.
"They'd like to have people be able to try the craft beers there, but they're willing to limit consumption so that there's no appearance that they're a bar or saloon," he said.
Assistant Village Manager Brett Kryska said it will be the first time in at least 30 years that there has been reinvestment in the downtown building.
Taylor said the building previously housed a doctor's office and has an early 70s feel to it.
"They will do a remodel of the facade, which will actually look more like something that would have been built at the turn of the last century," he added.
Under the terms of the agreement between the village and Beer Bazaar, the economic incentive package will be paid 60 days after the business opens, but only if the planned improvements are completed. The $21,000 is about 10 percent of the expected cost of renovations, Kryska said.
The deal with Beer Bazaar is the latest of several recent economic incentive agreements by the village.
In June, officials agreed to give $1 million to FLAG Chevrolet, at 1000 E. Belvidere Road, for a renovation and $350,000 to the developers of a new downtown restaurant at 250 Center St. In July, the village board agreed to give $200,000 to the developers of a new Dollar Tree at 1015 E. Belvidere Road.