Lincolnwood is set to be the home of an Amazon Fresh grocery store, as the developer of the vacant site at Touhy and Lincoln Avenues said he has a signed a lease with the retail giant.
At the July 20 village board meeting, Richard Tucker, the CEO of Tucker Development, announced that an approximately 38,000-square-foot Amazon Fresh grocery store would be an anchor tenant in the District 1860 development, where the Purple Hotel once stood. Some restaurants, retail and luxury apartments are also planned, but an anticipated hotel development has been cancelled for now.
Referring to the Amazon Fresh store, Tucker said, “It’s a unique opportunity that I think will be a wonderful asset to the village of Lincolnwood and to District 1860.”
At previous meetings, village officials said the District 1860 project was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tucker said the goal now is to break ground later this year, leading into an anticipated two-year construction process with hopes the store will be open by 2023.
“We are excited to take this next step with Tucker Development and their District 1860 project,” Village President Jesal Patel added in a statement released after the meeting. “Within a few months, the transformation from a long-vacant eyesore to a vibrant mixed-use development will begin.”
During the meeting, Patel referenced another existing grocery option for the village, the Wal-Mart pickup facility at 6840 N Mccormick Blvd.
“It’s nice to know that we’ll now have here in Lincolnwood the number one and number two grocery retailers in America,” Patel said.
Shopping at Amazon Fresh
At other versions of Amazon Fresh stores, shoppers have the option to go on the Amazon app and place their selections in a smart cart, called a Dash Cart.
That cart uses sensors to identify the items inside the cart and checks them out electronically, thus eliminating the need to stand in a checkout line.
In addition, shoppers can utilize the “Alexa” virtual assistant to see what is available in a store or assist in locating items.
“Quite frankly, we need a grocery store, so we would do anything for a grocery store,” Trustee Jean Ikezoe-Halevi said at the meeting.
It was unclear how many people would be working at the store. Amazon representatives did not return messages requesting comment.
This will be the second Amazon Fresh store within a five mile radius as earlier this year, Amazon announced one would be opening in Morton Grove’s Sawmill Station shopping center at the intersection at Dempster and Waukegan Roads.
Patel said he believed there would be enough customers for both locations.
“Between Morton Grove and here, there are probably 200,000 people to buy groceries,” he said.
Restaurants and apartments
Besides the Amazon Fresh grocery store, the site is also set to be the home of two restaurants. Tucker previously announced agreements for the separate chains of Fatpour Tap Works and Fat Rosie’s Taco and Tequila to operate.
Also set to come to the site is the construction of approximately 300 apartments.
The developers and the village also envisioned a 220-room hotel for the roughly 8.25 acre site, but that development has been cancelled.
Tucker and village officials announced that First Hospitality Group, the organization responsible for developing the hotel parcel, is no longer part of the project.
They cited the pandemic and its effect on the hospitality industry as the reasons for the departure.
Patel did not rule out a hotel in the future.
“We are not simply going to hold out hope,” he said. “We are going to make every concerted effort to attract a hotel developer to join your development and show them that Lincolnwood is the place to be.”
During the meeting, trustees unanimously approved a series of amendments to the Planned Unit development agreement between the village and Tucker that was originally passed in 2019, where the village planned to issue roughly $30 million in TIF notes as part of an overall project that could cost as much as $175 million.
Under the updated agreement, the total amount of the financial incentive remains the same. However, the village is pledging future sales tax revenue generated only from the site to Tucker to offset the loss of the hotel, according to Village Attorney Steven Elrod.
“There is no obligation of the village to spend any of its own funds, there is no requirement to pledge any general obligation bonds; all of the incentive, even as modified, will come directly from future revenue generated exclusively by the site,” Elrod said.
Elrod said it is not certain how much sales tax revenue will be generated in the future.
![A Long Grove, Illinois man was killed in a multi-vehicle crash Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 65. Inkwon Seol, 44, suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries due to the crash, according to a release from the Lake County Coroner’s Office. He was pronounced dead around 3:38 p.m. at the St. Mary Medical Center emergency room in Hobart. Indiana State Police troopers were dispatched to a multi-vehicle crash on I-65 northbound just south of the ramp to I-80/94, according to an ISP news release. Preliminary investigation shows that a Chevrolet HHR was traveling north in the right lane of I-65 when the […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Post-Tribune.jpg?w=620 "A Long Grove, Illinois man was killed in a multi-vehicle crash Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 65. Inkwon Seol, 44, suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries due to the crash, according to a release from the Lake County Coroner’s Office. He was pronounced dead around 3:38 p.m. at the St. Mary Medical Center emergency room in Hobart. Indiana State Police troopers were dispatched to a multi-vehicle crash on I-65 northbound just south of the ramp to I-80/94, according to an ISP news release. Preliminary investigation shows that a Chevrolet HHR was traveling north in the right lane of I-65 when the […]")
