An escape room, a deli and a day care are looking to expand operations in Naperville.
The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission will take up zoning requests Wednesday for the RiddleBox Escape Room at 125-127 S. Washington St., McAlister’s Deli at 1296 E. Chicago Ave. and Kiddie Academy at Route 59 and 103rd Street.
Downtown escape room
Matthew Lendraitis, who owns the RiddleBox Escape Room at 620B W. Fifth Ave., wants to open a second location in downtown Naperville and is interested in the vacant, 2,241 square feet on the second floor of the commercial brick building at 125-127 S. Washington St.
Le Chocolat du Bouchard and Sis Nails & Spa are located on the building’s first floor.
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Community Planner Adam Beaver in a report to the commission said the Naperville Downtown 2030 Plan calls for a variety of synergistic uses, including entertainment options, and an escape room is something that does not currently exist downtown.
Escape rooms provide a hands-on game in which participants collaborate and solve puzzles in an attempt to exit before time runs out.
To operate an amusement establishment, such as an escape room, in the downtown core district, Lendraitis needs the city to approve it as a conditional use.
Chicago Avenue deli
The Hari Group of Naperville is asking the city to rezone the nearly one acre lot southwest Olesen Drive and East Chicago Avenue from a neighborhood convenience shopping center district to office, commercial and institutional district use to accommodate a new McAlister’s Deli.
The site previously was a 2,372-square-foot bank with four drive-thru lanes.
In addition to the zoning change, the Hari Group is requesting a conditional use for an eating establishment, a variance to allow existing driveways that encroach into the setback and a variance to reduce the required number of vehicles that can stack in the drive-thru lane from 12 to three.
When the property initially was zoned, the city limited the site’s allowable uses to banks and business or professional offices. The Hari Group is requesting the restriction be rescinded.
Community Planner Gabrielle Mattingly in a memo said staff recommends approval of the requests with conditions that final plans must be code compliant, except for the requested variances.
The restaurant’s drive-up window will be for customers who’ve placed their order ahead of time. No orders will be taken at the pickup window so the lines shouldn’t be as long as a traditional drive-thru.
Mattingly said while city code doesn’t distinguish between drive-thru and pickup windows, staff is supportive of the variance based on the pickup window concept.
However, any future owner who wants a drive-thru at this location would not be granted the same allowance without city approval, Mattingly said.
The Chicago Avenue site would join two other McAlister’s Deli in Naperville, one on 95th Street and the other on Route 59.
Day care facility
The owner of the 3.2-acre Saddlewood Commercial Complex at southwest Route 59 and 103rd Street plans to overhaul the exterior of the existing strip mall and add space for a Kiddie Academy day care.
The day care would occupy about 10,615 square feet of the roughly 33,090-square-foot center.
An additional 4,980 square feet of fenced-in outdoor space for a playground will be provided in the area that currently serves as part of the parking lot along Route 59.
Plans also call for more parking on the east side of the building.
Before moving forward, the shopping center needs to receive a conditional use from the city to allow the day care and a variance to allow for added parking within the 30-foot setback along Alice Lane.
Beaver said with the extra spots, there is sufficient parking available for the day care, including the 11 spaces designated for drop off/pick up.
The other Kiddie Academy in the city is on Patriot’s Lane east of the intersection of North Aurora Road and Route 59.
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