Development company to build Popeye’s in DeKalb

DeKALB – Chicken fanatics won’t have to drive to Hampshire to get their fix if a developer gets its way.

Oak Brook-based InSite Real Estate Investment Properties plans to build a Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen on Lincoln Highway and is seeking zoning permission to move ahead with the plan. The company has closed on property at 1127 W. Lincoln Highway, which sits on about 1.5 acres of land and will be turned into a three-lot subdivision.

The company plans to demolish the vacant L.A. Tan building to redevelop the site.

“They bought one lot and they want to divide it into three lots,” DeKalb’s Community Development Director Ellen Divita said. “They are asking the [Planning and Zoning] commission to consider approval of the final plat and to approve the drive-thru.”

In DeKalb, drive-thru windows on restaurants require special-use permits because of the potential impact on neighboring businesses and residents, primarily related to noise.

InSite plans to construct a freestanding Popeye’s in the lot and rent out about 4,000 square-feet of retail space in the subdivision, which is about a half mile from Northern Illinois University campus. The third area will be used for stormwater detention.

“I think people are excited about it,” Divita said. “It’s a food that a lot of people like.”

Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen is a worldwide fast-food chain that offers New Orleans’s style meals including fried chicken and fish, Cajun rice, macaroni and cheese, jambalaya and sandwiches. The closest Popeye’s to DeKalb is in Hampshire.

The new 60-seat location will hire 50 to 55 employees, both full and part-time, but won’t be hiring just yet as construction is months away.

“We won’t be able to get everything permitted before winter,” InSite representative Eric Uebelhor said. “We’re looking at a spring construction start, so probably in mid-April or May.”

Part of the reason the company chose the site was because InSite also owns a property at the northeast corner of Lincoln Highway and Annie Glidden Road, where Starbucks is, Uebelhor said.

“It’s pretty much close enough to throw a football to,” he said. “So I think it’s just having that presence already.”