Construction crews are in full force this summer in downtown Naperville, but that hasn’t stopped new businesses from making their way to the area.
“We have Insomnia Cookies (22 E. Chicago Ave. Suite 109), which for those that might be familiar, but incredible chocolate chip cookies and other types of cookies at River Square,” said Katie Wood, Executive Director of the Downtown Naperville Alliance (DNA). “We also have Everything But Water (55 S. Main St.), which is kind of a resort wear, swimwear store, very popular. We also have Kendra Scott jewelry (55 S. Main St. Suite 111). That’s going to be opening very soon, I would imagine by September.”
Over on Washington Street, a new addition to Tapville Social, 216 S. Washington St., is coming this fall.
“They have a beautiful new event space, it’s going to open in September,” said Wood. “What will be unique about that is you can have business meetings there, you can have rehearsal dinners, you can have bridal showers. They have 68 craft beer taps there, wine, and a full bar.”
The modern venue will accommodate parties of up to 100 people.
AltaVida offers Latin American cuisine, dance
A new offering in the old Two Brothers Brewing building called AltaVida, 16 W. Jefferson Ave., brings a taste of Latin American culture to Jefferson Avenue.
“We have a lot of different tapas,” said Libby Michel, Maître d’ at AltaVida. “We have Mexico, Puerto Rico, Chile… pretty nice entrées that focus on the flavors that Latin America has to offer. Our cocktails too, they’re focused on Latin America as well… we have mango margarita, we have mojitos… a lot of different drinks.
AltaVida’s second floor, Rumba, features a contemporary live-entertainment dance hall.
“We have dance classes (at) 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, they’re free to the public,” Michel said. “We just want everybody to get immersed in the Latino culture, learn merengue, salsa, bachata. We have a live band and a live DJ (on) Fridays and Saturdays.
A roof deck on AltaVida’s third floor, Altura, will open in November, offering space for banquets and special events.
All businesses open during downtown construction
Phase two of the downtown streetscape improvements is underway, which involves work on Washington Street, such as streetscape modernization, and replacing water mains.
“There was a real strong need to do this work,” said Wood. “The streetscape portion, we’re about four months in and we have about three months to go. They are on schedule.”
Wood encouraged area residents to show the Washington Street businesses “some love” during construction.
“All those businesses are open,” said Wood. “All of them have ramps right to their door… and they welcome visitors.”
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