:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/2IWZEJZNCTZ2SAVXGDAMRGPT4A.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/PKRAICXLRGDGBB6TNQ4YU4GXZQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/R5RTKZK5WJPB623RRL4RJTOK4E.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/HZG6IWV2RG3ER5MJ7JJR6GKZEU.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/CIDE3PSJJ5TADO5LGOTOTV3WZQ.jpg)
LAKE IN THE HILLS – Lake in the Hills officials are hopeful that a village eyesore soon will be filled and spur new development at Randall and Algonquin roads.
The Centre at Lake in the Hills shopping center that includes the former Dominick’s store sold Wednesday for $5.05 million. The starting bid was $1.2 million.
Algonquin/Lake in the Hills Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Katrina McGuire said the higher price is a good sign for the village’s economy, showing that people want to invest in the community and have faith in it.
“It’ll be very nice to have something there and not that eyesore,” McGuire said. “It’s a great location, and a busy corner and a great opportunity for any of those investors.”
The auction – originally set for last summer – was pushed back twice and was rescheduled for Monday through Wednesday on Ten-X Commercial, an online real estate search and transaction website.
Village President Russ Ruzanski said the sale is an opportunity to increase the village’s tax base with new business.
The property now is in escrow, according to the Ten-X website, and the auction details will be made public once escrow is closed.
Ruzanski said the process will be a quick change of title, and it should be clear within the next few weeks where interest lies from potential businesses.
“Whoever is buying this isn’t buying it just to sit on it,” Ruzanski said. “They might have a potential suitor who wants to go in there already, and it would just be a matter of working on the details. The village is going to benefit one way or another.”
McGuire said she would like to see a destination concept come to the former Dominick’s site, which could bring different people to the area. A destination place, rather than a grocery store, for example, would help put Lake in the Hills on the map, she said.
“We have great shopping centers on Randall Road and great boutique stores opening up, and we could use the traffic – a place where people could hang out and take time during the day to have an experience,” McGuire said. “Shopping is one thing, but they can do that online.”
Unfortunately, McGuire said, she still hears of people traveling to the Schaumburg area because it has locations such as Pinstripes, Level 257 and Main Event in Hoffman Estates.
About 17 percent of the 99,451-square-foot space is leased, according to Ten-X.
Rumors have circled about Aldi’s intent to move into 22,000 square feet of the vacant Dominick’s site. Aldi’s Batavia division Vice President Laura Branneman said that at this time, the store has no updates regarding a new store.
"Whatever the developers do, they are going to be smart about it because they are putting money into it," McGuire said. "Especially in Lake in the Hills, we don't have the retail economy that Algonquin does, so hopefully it will enhance not only Algonquin, but also create a more robust retail economy."