Woodstock City Council to consider new FasTacos restaurant

Woodstock soon could see a second FasTacos restaurant open.

Woodstock City Council members will meet Tuesday to consider two liquor license requests and a potential redevelopment for Benton Place. FasTacos Inc seeks to open its third McHenry County location in the former Ace Hardware building, at 150 S. Eastwood Drive. Carniceria La Esperanza’s owners want to offer alcohol, and a developer is requesting tax-increment financing district funds for a project near the Square.

The council first must vote to lift its liquor license moratorium so the business owners each may apply for liquor licenses. Tuesday’s vote isn’t a guarantee of liquor license approval.

FasTacos currently operates restaurants in Woodstock and Huntley. The chain offers tacos, burritos, quesadillas, tortas, nachos and specials such as fajitas, enchiladas and tostadas. Owner Hector Ruiz wants to open a third location at the Eastwood Drive site. Ruiz seeks a liquor license for the restaurant but doesn’t plan to add video gambling machines, according to city documents. The restaurant liquor license allows a business to sell alcohol on a retail basis as well as for on-premise consumption. Carniceria La Esperanza is a grocer and food mart located at 1230 Davis Road. Owner Marcos Cervantes is seeking a restaurant liquor license but also doesn’t plan to request video gaming, according to city documents.

Council members also will consider a redevelopment agreement with Benton Place LLC. Benton Place, also known as Dacy Block, consists of four attached buildings on the northeast corner of the Square, bound by the railroad tracks, East Judd and North Benton streets.

The buildings include six apartments located above five ground-floor retail units. The property owner has been in the process of renovating the buildings for several years, with some assistance from the city’s facade improvement program.

The overall budget for the current project is $350,000, which includes exterior site work and soft costs such as architectural design and engineering. City officials project the buildings could generate between $60,000 to $100,000 in new taxes during the next 10 years. Under the proposed agreement, the city would refund 75% of the tax increase over 10 years, with a $100,000 cap, according to city documents.

The Woodstock City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 121 W. Calhoun St.