ST. CHARLES – After three decades along Route 38, one of the city's original fast food chain restaurants has laid plans to set up shop across Randall Road.
Tuesday, the St. Charles Plan Commission discussed plans for the construction of a new Burger King restaurant.
Planned by owner and developer Gill Management Inc., of St. Charles, the new restaurant would be built at the northwest corner of Randall Road and Bricher Road, just south of the Meijer gas station and in front of the St. Charles Lowes store.
The restaurant would replace the Burger King that has operated on Route 38, just east of Randall Road, since 1980.
That Burger King restaurant was one of the first fast food restaurants in St. Charles when it was built, as well as one of the first in the region to offer service through a drive-through window, said Jim Urhausen, who represented Gill Management.
Bruno Hilgart, director of operations and marketing for Gill Management, said the St. Charles Burger King restaurant has weathered many storms at its current location, including the closing and demolition of the St. Charles Mall and the reconstruction of Randall Road, among others.
But since 1999, Gill Management has owned the 1.6 acre lot at Randall and Bricher, with the intention of relocating the restaurant to that location someday.
This year, Gill's lease for its current location with landlord Shodeen Inc. expired.
And Hilgart said Gill and Shodeen could not reach a lease renewal agreement that could satisfy the needs of Gill's Burger King restaurant.
"We did not fit with their plans for that site," Hilgart said.
Gill then began crafting plans to build a new Burger King restaurant at Bricher and Randall.
The development will also include a small two-tenant strip mall that will be located south of the new Burger King, close to the intersection of Bricher and Randall. Gill has already reached a deal with AT&T to open a retail store in that strip center, Urhausen said.
Hilgart said the new location will also allow his restaurant improved visibility from Randall Road and better traffic flow. Those factors should increase business at the new Burger King restaurant by up to 20 percent compared to the current location, Hilgart said.
Gill Management hopes to open the new restaurant by June 2010.
Plan commissioners had few concerns with the project, centering questions on how the drive-through and parking stalls might impact traffic flow through the parking lot.
The matter will return to the plan commission for a vote on Sept. 1.
