The opening of a Pete’s Fresh Market store on Madison Street will be delayed again — this time by at least two months after the project manager told the Village Board the store is having issues with utility companies.
The Oak Park Village Board originally approved plans for the grocery store in February 2021 and Pete’s store officials later broke ground in December 2021. Since then, there have been significant delays in development.
The store’s project manager, Eugene Grzynkowicz, cited difficulties with utility companies, namely ComEd, as the root of the continued delays. He addressed trustees at the Sept. 18 Village Board meeting where he provided an update on the project.
“From what I see it’s going to be two, two-and-a-half, months delayed,” he said.
The original documents submitted to the Village Board in 2020 listed March 30, 2023 as the grand opening date. In January, Pete’s officials requested an extension for construction completion until June 30, 2024, but Grzynkowicz said during the meeting that the date will likely need to be pushed back further.
When the Village Board approved the most recent extension in January, it required grocery store officials to give trustees quarterly updates for the remainder of the development project.
“This is not something induced by Pete’s,” Gryzynkowicz said regarding the delays. “This is not Pete’s creating the hardship. This is a hardship from the utility companies and we are at the mercy of them to do that work before we can start our work.”
It was not immediately clear what difficulties the grocery store faced with the utility companies.
The grocery store is set to be located on the north side of Madison Street between Euclid and Wesley avenues. The site is approximately 46,000 square feet with a 117-space surface parking lot to the west of the store and 114-space underground parking lot for employees.
This will be the grocery store’s second location in Oak Park. In late 2015, Pete’s took over a former Dominick’s store at 259 Lake St.
Some board members, including Trustee Brian Straw, expressed frustration, feeling that Gryzynkowicz was not being straightforward with his responses regarding the delays.
“We want to know both what’s going on [and] what’s the hold up because we are constantly hearing from residents,” Straw said.
He said there have been complaints that the site is right now just a field of dirt. Residents question if construction is ever going to take place, he said.
The delays continue to have significant cost implications for the village, Trustee Lucia Robinson pointed out. She did not approve the last extension request, which was the fifth amendment to the redevelopment agreement made between the Village Board and store owners.
“The fact of the matter is that we are losing enormous amounts of money on this,” Robinson said. “That’s really the bottom line.”
The Pete’s Market is expected to generate approximately $1.2 million in combined sales and property tax revenues annually, according to village documents.
“We are not the project manager on this,” Robinson said. “We are supposed to be the recipient of the stated revenue, those revenue estimates. And right now Pete’s has not made good on that.”
Robinson added that there is a built-in “nominal” payment from the company to offset the costs resulting from the delay but suggested that the Village Board potentially explore a “stricter financial consequence.”
“We understand your frustration as well as we are frustrated,” Grzynkowicz replied. “As much as you can try to push the utility companies, you’re still at the mercy of what they’re going to be able to do and how they’re going to perform.”
Village Manager Kevin Jackson told board members that the village is “doing everything” to “support the acceleration of the project” and that they will continue to try to facilitate working with ComEd.
Ryan Hudgins is a freelancer.
