El Guero still has plans for Joliet

A new El Guero supermarket has not opened on Jackson Street this summer as once anticipated, but the project is still in the works, a Joliet official said.

The project even got a boost when El Guero learned the former Certified Warehouse Foods store that they plan to redevelop is not in a newly created downtown floodplain, city Economic Development Specialist Derek Conley said.

"They did a survey that showed the building is not in the flood zone," Conley said.

Part of the parking lot but not the building itself is in the floodplain, Conley said.

He said El Guero plans to move ahead with the project, but had no construction timetable.

The floodplain became official in February 2019, the same month the city approved a $1 million incentive package for the El Guero project. At the time, city officials said a store opening was anticipated in summer 2020.