Sycamore building officials give update on construction near Meijer

SYCAMORE – More available storefront space may be coming as initial construction begins near Meijer off Peace Road.

Sycamore Building and Engineering Director John Sauter said contractor First Midwest Group is building a single-story shell building – meaning just the four walls, roof and exterior of the building – near the supermarket. He said the total area of the building is set to be 10,559 square feet.

“And as they lease the space, they will partition off the interior part for whomever the tenants may be,” Sauter said.

Sauter confirmed Tuesday there have been no building permits submitted yet by any businesses for the space.

“One of units will have drive-up window, but I don’t know who that would be quite yet,” Sauter said.

Sauter’s comments come after residents recently speculated what might be going into the building in community social media groups.

Sauter said First Midwest Group was the same group the Meijer property was purchased from. He said he’s under the impression the group either will develop the building to lease out the space or spaces themselves or they will sell it.

“They own all of that land all around there and along Peace Road,” Sauter said.

Sauter said construction workers are just starting on foundation work at the site this week, following site work beginning a week ago. Beyond that, he said the construction timeline becomes a little more elusive because of building material supply issues.

For example, Sauter said the more recent word on the street is garage doors are hard to get. He said he also has heard sporadically of electricians or plumbers having a hard time getting some materials.

“It’s strange. It seems like it’s kind of all over the map,” Sauter said. “ ... If all goes well, early fall, they would have a building shell up.”