On Tuesday, the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce (NACC) hosted the 2023 State of Naperville Real Estate.
Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico and President of the Naperville Development Partnership Christine Jeffries reviewed the significant residential and commercial development in Naperville over the past year, and plans for the future of the city.
New businesses on the horizon
Ramsey’s Kitchen is expected to open at 39 W. Jefferson Street in downtown Naperville this spring. This will be celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey’s second Chicago-area restaurant, and just the third location for Ramsey’s Kitchen, with the other two in Boston and Las Vegas.
The Matrix Club, a 75,000-square-foot convention, banquet, and performance facility will be opening at 808 S. Route 59. Though no official date was announced, Chirico said The Matrix Club’s opening is “right around the corner.”
“This is going to be an enormous amenity for us,” said Chirico. “They will be working with our hotels for weddings they’ll be hosting there. People will be coming in from all over the world, going to that event space, spending their time, shopping, dining in Naperville.”
Long-term projects coming to fruition
After years under the radar at the hands of underutilized or abandoned buildings, the Ogden Avenue corridor has undergone a resurgence in recent years. A second Amazon Fresh location in Naperville continued this trend, as the grocery store opened its doors in March of 2022.
Retail Properties of America, Inc.’s Main Street Promenade is currently in its leasing phase. The 83-acre lot on the corner of Main St. and Benton Ave will be a five-story mixed-use building, with the first floor containing retail space and the rest of the building consisting of residential housing.
Chirico admitted Naperville lacks residential housing in the downtown area.
“You need to have some of that density to support some of these businesses, especially for lunch crowds,” said Chirico.
The Naperville City Council recently approved Brixmor Property Group’s Block 59 Business District, which includes the Heritage Square shopping center at the northeast corner of Route 59. Brixmor plans to develop the area, tearing down most of the buildings to create a new entertainment and restaurant district, which would include a community lawn.
Chirico considers this development to be a “huge thing for Naperville.”
“This is a very tired area of our town, an under-producing commercial district, and it has been for many years,” said Chirico. “I think this is going to be one of the most exciting areas that we can improve and bring back to life.”
When recruiting businesses and developments to the area, Jeffries emphasized how competitive Naperville is to bring them to the city.
“We compete with Chicago, we compete with Boston, we compete with Denver, we compete with Plano, Texas,” said Jeffries. “These are the communities that they’re all looking at. We do want to land them here.”
Housing front news
PulteGroup Inc.’s Naperville Polo Club is the most recently approved development in local residential housing. The 401-unit subdivision will reside on the city’s new southern border at Route 59 and 119th Street.
Another new housing unit coming to Naperville is The Belvedere, a 212-unit apartment to be built on the site where Lizzie’s Garden once operated, at 24254 111th Street. No start date on the construction of the Belvedere has been set.
Gorman & Company LLC recently purchased 4.68 acres of City-owned property for new affordable housing. The proposed five-building complex would offer 60 units. It’s targeted for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and seniors.
It will be located southwest of Route 59 and 103rd Street on Tower Court. Construction is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2024.
Future of Naperville real estate
Jeffries is confident Naperville will continue to see sustained commercial and economic growth.
“We are driven by one thing, and that is what’s best for Naperville, regardless of who wants to do the development and where they want to do it,” said Jeffries.
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