Elgin has a lot to look forward to in 2026, with development activity happening throughout the city, officials say.
Elgin Community College is set to open its $85 million Manufacturing and Technology Center at 1600 Spartan Drive in the fall. The 150,000-square-foot building will help the college expand its programs in manufacturing, engineering and technology, according to the college’s website.
Its role as a regional collaborative hub connecting students, teachers and industry partners will strengthen the local workforce, ECC officials said.
Just down the street, School District U-46 is building a new football stadium at Larkin High School. The district is investing $11.8 million in the 3,500-seat stadium and remedying a situation in which Larkin was its only high school without a sports arena.
U-46 officials said the stadium, which will include a concession stand and a plaza, means Larkin’s football team will no longer have to play games at rival Elgin High School’s field.
A project downtown at the former McBride building, located at 269-271 Douglas Ave., is to transform the second and third floors into a 26-room boutique hotel. The historic building was constructed for Thomas McBride Jr. in 1892. McBride and his family were prominent Elginites for about 100 years and helped contribute to the city’s economic development.
The building’s lower floor will remain as business storefronts.
Another downtown renovation is at 61 S. Grove Ave., the former Rancho Vargas. Work is being done to stabilize the building, with construction expected to start soon on a two-story mixed-use development, Marc Mylott, Elgin’s community development director, said in a social media post about upcoming projects.
That also includes the Illinois Youth Soccer Association’s plan to build a new headquarters and large indoor dome at 909 S. McLean Blvd., Mylott said.
“That’s just some of what is coming,” he said. “2026 looks like another busy year in Elgin.”
Elgin had a lot of development activity in 2025, he noted. Among the projects were 280 new apartments at the corner of Randall and Hopps Road and 160 single-family homes to be built in subdivisions on the city’s far west side.
Downtown had an influx of new residences with the opening of 40 DuPage Court and Judson College’s new dorm, Glunz Hall, at 28 N. Grove Ave. The Association for Individual Development (AID) opened a new campus on State Street.
U-46 started several projects in the works. Construction has started on the new Legacy Middle School on 2604 Rohrssen Road and on renovations to Kimball Middle School and Century Oaks Elementary School.
Work on Elgin’s first solar farm got underway at Bowes and Nolan Roads, Mylott said.
A new McGrath Nissan dealership opened at 2635 Auto Mall Drive, off Randall Road. New businesses included Churros y Chocolate, 66 S. Grove; Morbid Momentos, 225 E. Chicago St.; and a Starbucks at 1007 N. Randall Road. The Lodge Performing Arts Center, 18 Villa Court, opened this year, offering a new event and theater space downtown.
The year ended with a new Kane County satellite location for the county clerk and health department offices at 2170 Point Blvd.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
