Brew pub coming to former Lucky Jacks site in Bartlett
Bartlett officials have approved a deal with the village residents who opened More Brewing Company in Villa Park in 2017 to buy the former downtown site of Lucky Jacks to build their second location.
In addition to agreeing to sell the 7,164-square-foot site at 121 Railroad Ave. for $101,000, the village board approved an economic incentive offering the business a 50 percent rebate on its sales taxes up to $100,000 or for 10 years - whichever comes first.
Bartlett Assistant Village Administrator Scott Skrycki said the village board considered the offered incentive a worthy one to bring such a business to town, but that it was purely a coincidence that the highest possible amount of the rebate so closely approximates the sale price of the land.
He added that village officials are excited about the potential of the brew pub, whose Villa Park location has already created more than 50 jobs and injected more than $3 million of gross revenue and sales tax into the local economy there.
"I think it'll change the face of the downtown overnight," Skrycki said.
According to the village, brothers Perry and Sunny Patel are proposing a two-story brew pub in a, 7,000-square-foot building with 230 seats, of which 50 would be on a rooftop patio. Thirty of the remaining 180 seats would be in a private room.
The sales agreement for the land gives the village the right of first refusal to buy back the site at the original price if the project doesn't begin within a year.
Representatives of More Brewing Company did not immediately respond to a request for more information, but Skrycki said he expected them to be finalizing plans for the project during the winter months.
"We want to see it as quickly as possible," he added.
The village of Bartlett demolished the Lucky Jacks building in the spring, having acquired the building by having it declared abandoned in court. Lucky Jacks closed in 2012.
The building it occupied was one of the oldest in downtown Bartlett, having been constructed as a general store in the 1870s.
Though once considered by some to be worth preserving for its historic contribution, the building's estimated $400,000 rehabilitation cost due to its severe deterioration was ultimately determined to be prohibitive, village officials said.
Among the many other uses it was put to were a post office, a popular spot for Friday night fish frys referred to as the "Eck" - the German word for corner - and the Banbury Fair store now at nearby 211 Railroad Ave.