CRYSTAL LAKE – The building that once housed Dominick's grocery store in Crystal Lake was recently acquired by an Illinois food store company, however, the specifics of property's future have yet to be determined.
Real estate documents indicate the Crystal Lake property – about 66,000 square feet at 5340 Route 14 – was acquired in July for $3.2 million by Farmers Best Market LLC. The property's seller was listed as Dominick Finer Foods LLC.
President of Northlake-based Farmers Best Nick Merikas later confirmed the acquisition.
However, he could not yet specify what will be going into the building.
Initially, the motivation to buy the property was to open a new store, Merikas said. There are currently two Farmers Best markets in the state, the first in Northlake and the second in Chicago.
"They're geared toward Hispanics, but that's not what we were going to do in Crystal Lake," he said, adding there still would have been some products marketed specifically toward Hispanics. "We thought it was a good location."
However, the plan has since shifted toward finding tenants to rent the space instead, Merikas said.
James Richter II, the planning and economic development manager for Crystal Lake, said possible tenants are being sought, but none are currently locked in.
"We're in discussions with some really great retailers," Richter said. "It's all in the works."
At this point, Richter said there is no definite timeline as far as when residents can expect to see tenants occupying the building.
The former Dominick's building in Crystal Lake has been sitting vacant for almost 10 months since shuttering last December.
Safeway Inc., the grocery chain's owner, decided last fall to sell its 72 Chicago-area stores by the end of 2013, costing 192 McHenry County workers their jobs. The stores that were not sold were closed.
In addition to Crystal Lake, Dominick's had locations in Fox River Grove and Lake in the Hills.
In June, the former Dominick's building at 800 Route 14 in Fox River Grove reopened as a Jewel-Osco after it was acquired by Albertson's, Jewel's parent company.
The Lake in the Hills location has not yet been filled since closing last year, but village officials said there are a couple prospects on the table.