A property anchored by a Walgreens drugstore in downtown Naperville and previously floated as an opportunity for new mixed-use retail and residential development has a new owner.
Will Kreuzer, principal for Evolve Commercial Real Estate, has purchased the roughly two-acre property at the corner of Main Street and Aurora Avenue.
The sale was completed at the end of July this year and part of a three-property portfolio that sold for a total of $7.25 million, according to CoStar.
That portfolio included a property at 400 S. Main St. that sold for $1.8 million, one at 419 S. Washington St. that also sold for $1.8 million and another at 423 S. Washington St. that sold for $3.5 million, CoStar said.
Kreuzer was identified by the previous property owner as the primary individual to sell the land to due in part to his strong Naperville ties.
“Will has just the experience and understanding of downtown Naperville, and so he recognizes the important role this property plays in downtown Naperville, and his immediate focus is to improve it, be a good neighbor, make sure it matches the character of the downtown,” said Patrick Skarr, a spokesperson for Kreuzer.
A Naperville resident himself since 2008, Kreuzer has worked on a number of real estate projects in the city, including as a developer for a 28,500-square-foot shopping center at the intersection of South Washington Street and Gartner Road. Businesses in that shopping center, known as the Shoppes on Washington, include Brown Bag Seafood Co., Starbucks and @Properties, among others.
Short-term plans for Kreuzer’s new downtown property are focused on minor cosmetic work, such as cleaning up the parking lot, refreshing the landscaping and other maintenance.
“He’s been highly focused on getting the property up to a cleaner standard, a more presentable standard, and if you look at the Shoppes on Washington, you could see kind of what Will’s standard is as it relates to property maintenance and aesthetics,” said Vince Rosanova, an attorney representing Kreuzer.
However, long-term plans for any major redevelopment of the site at the corner of Main Street and Aurora Avenue are currently unclear.
“To my knowledge, to date, given that there’s long-term tenants on the property, (he) really hasn’t spent much time considering what his land plan would look like,” Rosanova said.
Prior to Kreuzer’s purchase, there were four businesses that occupied the property: Hot Yoga Naperville, JC Licht, AT&T and Walgreens.
Of those businesses, Hot Yoga Naperville has chosen not to renew its lease on the second floor of 400 S. Main St., leaving its approximately 5,000-square-foot space located above the Walgreens available for a new business. Skarr said that Hot Yoga Naperville moved out of the space in August.
“So, in the short term, you may see a tenant relet that place, that space up there, and that would be really the only short-term change you would see,” Rosanova said.
Hot Yoga Naperville did not respond to requests for comment and its website still lists 400 S. Main St. as its current location. Rosanova said that the long-time downtown Naperville business did not give a reason for moving out of that space.
As for the Walgreens, that business will remain in its current spot and still has over a decade left on its current lease, Rosanova said.
“That’s a great tenant in the downtown. Everybody loves having Walgreens there and everything that they offer. … So for all intents and purposes, Walgreens is going to continue to be a tenant of that building for a long time, unless Walgreens chooses to do something different,” he said.
A representative for JC Licht said that the business currently does not have any plans to vacate its Naperville location at 419 S. Washington St. Representatives for Walgreens did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Rosanova said that leases for all of the current businesses at the site will be honored.
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An AT&T representative emailed a statement saying, “We remain open and ready to serve customers at our Naperville store at 423 S. Main Street. We look forward to continuing to meet the needs of the community.”
The property at the corner of Main Street and Aurora Avenue is not the only site in downtown Naperville to see ownership change this year.
After Beidelman Furniture closed its doors in April, Ellsworth Partners took over the building where the 165-year-old furniture store sat at the corner of Jackson Avenue and Washington Street.
Matt Calvo, co-founder and partner of the commercial real estate firm, previously told the Naperville Sun that the firm was focused on bringing in new retail and restaurant tenants to the building at 239 S. Washington St. He was also interested in restoring the bricked-over windows on the second and third floors of the building.
Since the building is a city landmark, restoration of the windows will need to go through the city’s Historic Preservation Commission for approval. A sign posted outside of the former Beidelman Furniture building indicated that the matter will go before the Historic Preservation Commission on Oct. 22.
In addition to restoring the windows, the developer is requesting permission to add roof details and a new storefront design.