An idea to build condo units on the Fox River where a longtime restaurant now sits received a “meh” this week from the McHenry City Council.

The site’s current owner said Wednesday that she was not aware of any pending sale, and that she would not be in favor of the idea either.

Developer Nick Mazzio and architect John Swierk, of Prairie Grove-based DDCA Architects, presented the idea at the Tuesday Council meeting, which was bumped a day because of the Labor Day holiday.

Going by the name Over the Bridge LLC, the developers suggested a 40-unit condominium building with four stories of housing and above ground-floor parking at 1211 N. River Road.

The location is currently home to Vickie’s Place. Built in 1972, the restaurant has operated on the east bank of the Fox River at the Pearl Street bridge for 40 years.

“I do want to sell, but I live in this town and don’t want something so awful,” restaurant owner Vickie Clawson said the day after the condo proposal was pitched to the Council. “Five stories, with the parking underneath? No.”

Currently zoned for commercial use, the property is less than a half-acre in size, according to the concept plan. It suggests 40 parking spots for residents beneath the units, and 10 exterior spots.

The proposed parking and the building height were not favored by the Council.

“I love the concept on that property ... but I think it is too dense and there is not enough parking for the residents,” Third Ward Adlerman Stephen Doherty said.

Alderwoman Sue Miller, 7th Ward, agreed that it was an interesting concept, but that she was torn on the idea of giving up riverfront to condos.

“I hate to give up the commercial aspect of that side of the river. It has been a restaurant for a very long time,” Miller said.

According to Ross Polerecky, the city’s director of community development, McHenry’s building code would require 1.5 parking spots per unit, for a total of 60 dedicated spaces.

“We would ask for a variance,” Mazzio said.

Second Ward Alderman Andy Glab, a longtime proponent of condominiums versus apartment construction, asked about association fees and price tags for the riverside condos.

As they were very early in the process, it would be tough to say, Mazzio said, but guessed a range of $300 to $400 a month in association fees on sales prices in the $500,000 to $550,000 range.

Glab asked Mazzio if he felt those prices were sellable in McHenry, adding later that those prices “sound high for condos.”

Mazzio does believe they would find buyers “because of what you have done in the last few years. I grew up here ... and am impressed by the direction the Chain [O’ Lakes] is going. This is unique to the Chain.”

Mayor Wayne Jett said later that he planned to meet with the developer to see if there is another way forward, including a mixed-use plan for the site that would include both housing and retail.

Clawson said there is no contract in place to sell the restaurant or the land, which listed at real estate site Loopnet.com with a $1.3 million sale price.

She’s looking to retire, Clawson said. The restaurant was closed for nearly eight months in early 2023 after a Christmas weekend flood and ensuing repairs.

“I am ready to do something other than come in here every day of my life,” she said.