Huntley eager to start up business incubators downtown in historic house and small shops

Huntley is moving forward with downtown incubator shops, following other municipalities in McHenry County including Woodstock and McHenry.

Huntley plans to put the shops up in the Hackett House, which is located at the intersection of Route 47 and Main Street and was bought by the village in 2013.

Huntley received an almost $975,000 grant through U.S. Rep Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, for the project. Underwood represented much of McHenry County in Congress before 2020 redistricting.

The grant has to be spent by the end of 2025, and the village board approved $80,000 of that money for architectural and design services for the project Thursday. Village Manager Dave Johnson said the village’s intent is to have the incubators up and running for the 2025 holiday season. Village documents indicate the shops will be called, The Grove on Main.

“I think that’s a great use of that corner,” Trustee Ric Zydorowicz said. “It’s not an unsightly corner today. It’s kind of a dead corner, so this should bring ... some energy into that corner and thus drag it into the downtown area.”

The house is near Huntley Square, across the train tracks from other downtown amenities. Currently, Hackett House is home to Naturally McHenry County, the tourism bureau, whose lease is up in March. Naturally McHenry County officials said last week they were notified about the incubator plans and their board will be exploring next steps.

Huntley officials said the location is close to almost 200 parking spots and is walkable to other spots downtown. Officials believe existing businesses downtown will benefit from increased foot traffic from the incubator businesses.

Huntley plans to reconfigure the Hackett House to accommodate about three shops and restrooms inside the building, while spaces for seven more will be outside the building in individual structures about 12 feet by 12 feet on the perimeter of the property. Renderings included in village documents indicate some variation in the color schemes and designs of the small shops.

Trustee Ronda Goldman said she visited other municipalities’ incubators, but “ours are going to be better.”

Huntley’s approach combines elements of McHenry’s and Woodstock’s. McHenry’s incubator is located in the Riverwalk Shoppes where each business has its own little store, but are similarly designed. Woodstock’s incubator is located inside the Old Courthouse on the Square, which completed renovations last year.

McHenry’s shops opened last year and season two kicked off in May. Woodstock’s incubator has one business, Seleta Scents, inside the Old Courthouse, while a second business, The Records Department, outgrew its space and moved to a new location downtown earlier this summer. The city plans to bring up more incubator leases at its Sept. 3 meeting, according to city documents.

For Huntley, village officials are eager to join McHenry and Woodstock and get the incubators up and running.

“This is exciting,” Goldman said.