Darien Restaurant Plan Clears 1st Hurdle

DARIEN, IL – A key Darien panel voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend allowing a restaurant with a drive-thru near the corner of 75th Street and Cass Avenue.

The Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation next goes to a City Council committee. The full council could decide on the project at its March 4 meeting.

"The decision hinged on the fact that there would be a condition that the user would need to be an eating establishment with a drive-thru," the city's planner, Jordan Yanke, said in an interview Thursday.

Yanke said he had been asked before the meeting whether the business would be a tobacco store. He said the developer would have to come back to the city if it wanted to change the planned use.

The developer, Downers Grove-based Indvestia Capital, has not identified a tenant, according to city records.

Indvestia's owner is Vick Mehta, who is described on the firm's website as a 20-year veteran of retail, franchising and real estate investing.

In a brief interview Thursday, Mehta said he was close to getting a tenant.

The 1,000-square-foot restaurant is planned for between Taco Bell and Concentra Urgent Care, according to the proposal. It would include outdoor seating.

The restaurant would be in the outlying parking lot for the shopping center that includes a Jewel grocery store.