Berwyn's Gateway Plaza welcomes Starbucks as first tenant

BERWYN – After years of trying, Berwyn has gotten its first Starbucks.

The popular coffee chain is the first tenant in the second phase of the Berwyn Gateway Plaza at the northeast corner of Cermak Road and Maple Avenue.

“Our residents have been rallying for a Starbucks for many years. I’m so pleased to have finally brought Starbucks to the finish line in Berwyn, and I know that it will be successful on our high impact Cermak Road corridor," Berwyn Mayor Roberto Lovero said in a Berwyn Development Corporation news release.

BDC urban planner Kurtis Pozsgay said it had been a running joke in his office about when Berwyn would get a Starbucks.

"It's the one company that I get asked about more than anything," he said.

He said Starbucks is particular about where it opens locations because it wants to be in high-traffic, visible areas with space for a drive-thru.

"Berwyn being built out as it is, it was hard to find a location they were satisfied with," he said.

Seven more tenants are expected to open by next summer in the plaza on the north side of Cermak Road between Maple and Wisconsin avenues.

Confirmed tenants are Noodles & Company, Betty's Bistro and Fifth Third Bank.

Pozsgay said they do not know exactly when each business will open, but the next step will be to move Fifth Third Bank from its current location in the middle of the block to a new building at Cermak Road and Wisconsin Avenue.

Once the move is finished, developers will demolish the older buildings in the middle of the block and build new structures, he said.

The Berwyn Gateway Plaza project, which is funded by a Tax Increment Finance District, started in 2012 with the redevelopment of the north side of Cermak Road between Harlem and Maple avenues.