Lombard working to fill downtown vacancies

The building at 106 W. St. Charles Road in Lombard is nothing but a box with walls.

Built in 1927, the vacant structure has had previous lives as a general store, a five and dime, and more recently, a salon.

Its owner hopes the building someday will become a restaurant or pub, a destination location to enliven the village's downtown.

But for now, the storefront is one of 19 vacant spaces in downtown Lombard.

“It does create somewhat of a perception issue,” director of community development Bill Heniff said about the downtown vacancies. “We frequently hear that one of the things people would like to see in the community is a vibrant downtown.”

Property owners, however, say economic factors are making potential tenants reluctant to rent space and start new ventures, not only in Lombard but in many other areas as well.

To combat that, village officials say they are offering grant funding to help fill vacancies and set the Lilac Village apart as a business-friendly area.

The grants, available for restaurants or retail businesses in the two downtown tax increment financing districts along Main Street and St. Charles Road, helped generate interest in Vernon Hammersmith's empty space at 106 W. St. Charles Road, he said. He's shown the 3,000-square-foot first floor space to 97 potential tenants in two and a half years since his previous tenant closed shop.

With a listed rent of $11 a square foot, Hammersmith said two potential tenants hired architects to draw possible floor plans, but neither went as far as signing a lease.

“We found no shortage of people interested in the space,” Hammersmith said. “It's not the price, it's the economy.”

Susan Houlihan, a Realtor who is listing the property, said the tight credit market makes the cost of turning the empty, rectangular space into a functioning restaurant, bakery, flower shop or other business too high for many entrepreneurs.

“There haven't been complaints about the price per square foot for rent. It's the build-out costs,” Houlihan said.

Potential business owners also may be discouraged by the area's lack of foot traffic, old buildings and small spaces, property owner Kenneth Moy said.

But if business owners gather the money to make the leap, Heniff said they will find a ready market in downtown Lombard.

“If you have a good business model, all our market studies and everything suggest there is no reason why a business can't be successful within the downtown area,” Heniff said.

According to research by a consulting company the village hired to develop a downtown revitalization plan, Lombard has a stable population and a stable median income among residents. The median household income among the village's 44,022 residents was about $76,900 in 2009 and is projected to grow to about $79,200 by 2014.

Also working on filling downtown vacancies is a group called Lombard Town Centre, led by Executive Director Karen Stonehouse. She said the mainly volunteer organization is working to prevent new vacancies and fit potential businesses with the right space for their needs.

“It's not one vacancy against another because each one has something different to offer,” Hammersmith said.

With the village planning to make downtown improvements and a variety of spaces available totaling 43,200 square feet, Stonehouse and Hammersmith are optimistic vacant spaces in downtown Lombard will someday be filled with vibrant businesses.

“We have something really nice down here that just needs, in this economy, a nice boost,” Hammersmith said. “We need that first or second breakthrough business just to get things going.”