Demolition due for Village on the Park spot

One of the last remaining traces of a bygone Havana Street will soon be no more.

The city’s planning and zoning commission granted initial approval July 22 for New York-based mega-developer Kimco Realty Corporation to overhaul the former Le Peep restaurant plot off South Parker Road and South Havana Street in west-central Aurora. The move will nullify one of the few remaining empty parcels along the city’s bustling Havana Street corridor, according to Gayle Jetchick, executive director of the Havana Business Improvement District.

“We have about 500 businesses in 209 real commercial properties, and we don’t have very many vacancies,” Jetchick said. “Everybody’s pretty stable.”

Plans for the shuttered brunch spot include a complete demolition of the existing 4,200-square-foot building and the construction of a new, four-tenant commercial structure, according to the Kimco site plan. Set to be headed by Denver-based G-3 Architecture, the project will feature a 6,000-square-foot building anchored by a larger restaurant and a drive-thru bank. Jersey Mike’s Subs, an East Coast sandwich chain, is the only company to have signed a letter of intent for one of the tenant spaces as of yet, according to Jetchick.

“As a former employee of the building right across the street, I’m delighted to hear that we’ll have more options for lunch,” said Ward IV City Councilwoman Molly Markert. “That’s been my kitchen corner for years — something new will be great.”

Though Kimco has not yet released an official timeline, Jetchick said she believes construction will begin at the site within the next two months.

“I thought it would already be started by now, but nothing’s happened yet,” she said. “I keep expecting to see a construction fence go up.”

Jetchick said that the Le Peep franchise has been closed for about three years and that in that time she has been working, to little avail, to thrust the property’s redevelopment process into motion. Kimco owns the entirety of the shopping center surrounding the Le Peep building — known collectively as The Village on the Park — but the company has been slow to fill several nearby storefronts despite continuing to pay rent on the properties, according to Jetchick.

“They’re basically sitting on it,” she said.

Jetchick added that the company has signed short-term lease agreements with seasonal shops such as Halloween City, but has dragged its feet in moving forward with securing permanent tenants.

“They’re a huge national mall developer and they have their own agenda,” she said.

Jetchick acknowledged, however, that commercial development is a slow business when dealing with a public company as large as Kimco. The real estate industry heavy weight has a share in more than 700 shopping centers worldwide, according to the company’s website.

The city’s planning and zoning commission granted initial approval July 22 for New York-based mega-developer Kimco Realty Corporation to overhaul the former Le Peep restaurant plot off South Parker Road and South Havana Street in west-central Aurora. The move will nullify one of the few remaining empty parcels along the city’s bustling Havana Street corridor, according to Gayle Jetchick, executive director of the Havana Business Improvement District.

“Two years to a developer is nothing, but to me, that’s a very long time,” Jetchick said. “I’d always like to see things move quicker, but things usually take four or five times longer than I think they should.”

Both Jetchick and Markert lauded the company for completing recent renovations on neighboring TJ Maxx and Shoe Carnival outposts.

“I’m delighted that we have more evidence of the rebirth of the entire area,” Markert said. “And it’s more validation for the business owners who have invested in the BID — they’re getting paid back in spades.”

No stranger to delayed projects, Jetchick pointed to the drawn-out saga regarding the former Fan Fare site at 333 Havana St. as another local example of slow progress along the 4.3-mile improvement district.

“Development just takes forever,” she said. “Here I thought Fan Fare would be up and redeveloped, but I don’t think things will get go going for another 18 months or so because of construction along the Light Rail line.”

The Regional Transportation District’s forthcoming R-line is expected to open late next year.

The city put its search for the long-defunct Fan Fare site on hold this spring after receiving just two project proposals for the 10.3-acre parcel of land. Originally, Aurora planners had expected to select a master developer from a pool of at least three proposals after the city purchased the lot for $4 million in 2013.

Kimco did not respond to a request for comment before press time.