Algonquin Aldi eyes relocation to Oakridge Court

The Algonquin Aldi is looking to relocate to 1100 South Randall Road as part of an expansion that will include more offerings for customers.

Currently on 425 S. Randall Road in Algonquin, the grocery store would move to Lot 7 in Oakridge Court in Algonquin.

Chris Stair, head of real estate for Aldi Inc., said the store in Algonquin is updating itself. This means increasing offerings, as the Aldi corporation goes through a nationwide remodeling.

For some stores, this has meant an expansion. Stair said because the Aldi at the Algonquin location it currently is at is "pretty much landlocked," and cannot be expanded, they started looking for other opportunities in the Algonquin area.

"One of the things with this growth is the fact that we’re rolling out probably about 1650 additional items," Stair said. "We're focusing a lot on 'fresh;' fresh produce, organics, gluten-frees, things of that nature."

John Schoditsch, of Kensington Development Partners, said "in a perfect world," they would start construction on this development in the spring and open some time toward the end of this calendar year.

When the new location opens, they will work on redeveloping the building shortly after, Schoditsch said, and will actively work with Aldi on redevelopment plans. Once the new store is open for business, they will shut the old store down, Schoditsch said.

Ben Mason, senior planner for Algonquin, said the developer will look to find a new user for the building that they're going to be vacating.

"They don't have any sort of plan for that just yet, but they would try to find a user for the property," he said. "Whether they keep the building, that’s to be determined."

The current Aldi location is only about 15,000 square feet. The new location would be 21,750 square feet. Also in Aldi's plans is a potential 2,000 feet expansion if they have more products to sell, Mason said, though this is not something they would do at the beginning of the project.

Schoditsch said they have been working with village staff on the project for about nine months now, and there were a lot of "moving parts" to the project, as there were things that needed the Aldi Corporation's approval, and also the landlord's approval.

The relocation was approved, 6-0, by the Planning and Zoning Commission at a meeting on Monday. A couple members of the commission said they were happy to see that Aldi's was remaining in the village for its expansion.