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KANKAKEE — The anticipated final approval for the south Kankakee QuikTrip development did not make Tuesday’s agenda for the Kankakee City Council.
Instead, Mayor Chris Curtis said final engineering OKs are being sought on some minor aspects of the project.
While the loose ends are being wrapped up, it appears the needed final plat approval for the projected $12-million QuikTrip project at the northeast corner of U.S. 45-52 and RiverStone Parkway will take place at the Feb. 3 city council meeting.
QuikTrip, based in Tulsa, Okla., has been targeting a Kankakee development since early 2023.
Curtis said the two-week delay will not impact the project’s development timeline. The project could still be ready for customers by either late 2025 or early 2026.
The project has been held up due to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Basically, QuikTrip’s plans to have entrances and exits to its development on South Schuyler Avenue were no longer possible due to the pending redevelopment of I-57’s 308 interchange.
The planned redevelopment of the 308 interchange has been in IDOT’s 2022-27 Multiyear Highway Improvement Program. It’s slated to cost more than $81 million.
That change meant QuikTrip site developers had to go back to the drawing board and reconfigure the set up of the station. Entrances and exits into the business will now be placed along RiverStone Parkway, the road which leads to such businesses as Walmart, Dunkin’, Taco Bell and Tractor Supply.
As part of the development agreement, QuikTrip purchased and then turned over the long-vacant former RiverStone Conference Center property to the city for $1.15 million.
The Kankakee administration plans to rehab the conference center, likely at the cost of more than $2 million, and then sell it to a banquet business.
The rehab of the conference center will take upward of two years.
The city will soon be seeking a request for proposals regarding rehab. The request, however, will not take place until the property transfer is completed.
Closed since 2017, the conference center is in desperate need of a total rebuild of the interior.
The banquet facility, which had a capacity to host about 400 people, is connected to the neighboring Hilton Garden Inn at 455 RiverStone Parkway.
Curtis has previously said extensive electrical, plumbing, HVAC and flooring renovations are in order. He also said there are many places where portions of these systems have been ripped out of the walls.
The city will likely be starting from scratch with its rehab of the facility.
https://daily-journal.com/news/local/kankakee/final-quiktrip-ok-set-for-feb-3/article_449043b0-d8d1-11ef-90a5-e783b2de2ca2.html