Shopping around: Costco looking at Yorkville location

It looks like the price is finally right for Costco as it has begun the process of coming to Yorkville.

Arden Joe Plocher, Yorkville alderman and chairman of the City Council’s economic development committee, said it was nice to hear official word after first discussing the possibility with Costco representatives over two years ago.

“I’m not surprised, I even heard their employees might have heard something, but until you get official word from anybody, you don’t want to say anything.” Plocher said. “People are excited because it’s been a long time coming, for years now. It’s something the Yorkville residents want, they wanted more choices in town.”

As recently as last week, Plocher said the city had not heard anything from Costco’s representatives about potentially coming to town while addressing social media rumors.

Plocher said that Costco has filed an application to construct a store at the northwest corner of Veteran’s Parkway and East Countryside Parkway in Yorkville. Costco has long flirted with the idea of coming to town, fueling constant public debate about the possibility.

The Costco will be across the street from the current post office building in that area. Plocher said there currently is no estimated construction or opening dates. He said the proposal still needs to go through all the relevant City Council committees which could take up to six months.

Yorkville City Administrator Bart Olson said the first city meeting to discuss Costco’s application will be in early January.

“There doesn’t need to be a rezoning, but they have to vote to amend the PUD Agreement that was in place from the mid-2000s on that area,” Olson said. “There’s also a special use vote for Costco’s gas station component. They’re also coming in for preliminary plan and final plat, which basically means they’ll have a site plan and we will have to review it to make sure it meets our city’s technical codes.”

Olson said once all those votes get approved, Costco can submit a building permit whenever they are ready to begin.