Woodstock businesses displaced by hotel development will get relocation help from city

Woodstock has approved grant assistance for a trio of businesses in a building that the city plans to tear down.

The city bought the building at 225-231 E. Calhoun St. last year. It’s next door to the site of a city-owned parking lot where the city plans to construct a hotel.

The city plans to demolish the Calhoun Street building after Spring 2026, and will use the property for parking and other redevelopment uses, according to city records.

The three businesses that have to move are Stewart’s Cleaners, Unique Nails and Woodstock Dance Academy.

City staff have been working with the businesses since Woodstock acquired the property, and have told them to plan to relocate in 2026. None of the businesses has a new location lined up, according to city documents. The city has been giving updates to the business owners about spaces in town. All three businesses want to stay in downtown Woodstock, but a low vacancy rate is making it difficult for them to find spaces that work, city documents say. Relocation expenses are also a concern of the businesses.

For now, the city has given the tenants the option to leave early without penalty. If any leases expire before the building is due to be torn down, tenants can stick around on a month-to-month basis until the demolition schedule is final, according to city documents.

Woodstock officials approved a grant assistance program for the businesses Aug. 19. The city has $40,000 available and a $20,000 maximum award. Businesses have to apply and send in a project budget, an itemized expense worksheet, the last two years of tax returns or other documentation of income, renderings or plans for the new space and their relocation timeline and planned opening.

Expenses the city will cover include things like signage and awnings at the new location; lease payment support, which officials said was the “difference in rent between old and new location for up to 6 months or remaining lease term (whichever is greater)“; capital improvements; revenue-generating space improvements; professional moving costs; down payment assistance with purchasing a new space; utility connection and service transfer fees; equipment installation and purchase; professional fees; and business rebranding materials.

The businesses will have to stay open in Woodstock for a minimum of 24 months after getting the grant, and city staff will monitor for that time frame. Woodstock might claw back the funds if the business closes or moves out of Woodstock before the two-year time frame.

Sieu Tran, the owner of Unique Nails, said his business is looking at a couple of spaces but doesn’t have anything lined up. He said the city did what it had to do and noted it was helping the businesses find a new place and providing financial assistance. He plans to apply for the grant.

No one from Woodstock Dance Academy and Stewart’s Cleaners on Thursday was available for comment.

When the City Council voted Tuesday, City Manager Roscoe Stelford said the city is collecting rent from the tenants and will use the rental income to fund the grants.

The hotel is on a city-owned parking lot next door to the soon-to-be displaced businesses on the corner of Calhoun and Jefferson streets in downtown Woodstock. The Council last year approved the hotel, which has to have construction completed by November 2026.

In addition to buying the Calhoun Street property, the city took the property owners of a vacant parcel next to the hotel site to court to acquire their property. The city agreed to pay Throop Street LLC $625,000 for the property in June. The city wants to use that property for parking, too, but officials also have floated other redevelopment uses for it.