Business & Tech
Grocery, Brewery Set For Countryside Development
Work on the development, which also includes a gas station, is expected to start this year, an official said.
COUNTRYSIDE, IL – A grocery store, brewery and gas station are planned for a Countryside development, the city says.
The complex is set for 5550 East Ave., the site of the old City Hall. It is a few blocks south of the La Grange village limit and across from a McCook quarry.
The supermarket is City Fresh Market, according to the city. The business has run another store for a couple of decades on Devon Avenue in Chicago.
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The brewery is expected to be Tangled Roots, which has sites in Ottawa, Glenview, Lockport and Vernon Hills. It opened its first location in 2016 in Ottawa.
A gas station is also planned. Some residents refer to it as a truck stop. However, City Manager Gail Paul said the station would have more pumps for cars than semi-trucks.
Find out what's happening in La Grangefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Not everyone supports the station.
"I am concerned about the air and water quality, increased traffic and accidents, and crime this truck stop would bring to my residential area and to the neighboring facility that serves children with disabilities, Helping Hand," resident Donna O'Keeffe, who lives a quarter mile away, told Patch in an email.
The City Council approved the development in 2022. And it has given six-month extensions since then for the developer to start the project.
In April, the council voted 5-2 in favor of another extension, with aldermen Tom Frohlich and John Finn dissenting.
"The council has made it clear that it won't do another extension," Administrator Paul said in an interview.
The one sticking point now is that the city is requiring the developer, Luka Travel Center 1 LLC, to get a lease in place for Tangled Roots, Paul said.
With the latest extension expiring in October, Paul said the developer must get the project started soon. She expects site work by the end of the year.
Luka's corporate filing with the state lists Vladislav Pavlovic as the manager. The filing shows his address is at a house on Countryside's Terry Lane, which is a mile from the proposed development.
Patch couldn't find contact information for Pavlovic.
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