RiverWalk Center building breaks ground

From the Friday, June 20 edition of the Northwest Herald:

RiverWalk Center building breaks ground
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com

McHENRY – Algonquin-based pizzeria Buddyz already has committed to a corner, creek-facing spot in the new RiverWalk Center under construction in downtown McHenry.

Several other businesses also are interested, sales manager Donna Basset said at a ceremonial groundbreaking attended by development, city and business leaders Thursday.

RiverWalk Center is the latest step in the city’s efforts to revitalize the downtown area and combat a fierce economic climate.

“[Businesses] will view McHenry very positively and settle in this area because of the beauty of the downtown area,” said Kay Bates, the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce president. “The heart of any community is its downtown.”

The building will be four stories high, with three floors of luxury condominiums and street level merchants.

The condominiums are priced from the mid-$200,000s and are targeted at empty-nesters who enjoy the area, don’t want the hassle of home maintenance, and want to be near the Fox River and Chain O’ Lakes, managing member Marck Alberts said.

The mix of commercial and residential in one structure will “bring an urban Chicago feel to McHenry,” Alberts said.

The developers, Curtis Commercial, received about $2.3 million in financial incentives from the city to build the project on the site of the former Medical Arts building, along Boone Creek at the northeast corner of Green Street and Waukegan Road.

Bates said the project was both a risk and a financial commitment, but insisted it was a high priority for residents.

“The riverwalk has been on the hearts and minds of the people probably dating back to the 1950s,” Bates said.

Grading on the RiverWalk Center site started this spring, and the project is expected to be completed by fall 2009.

It is the second large project to be completed along McHenry’s riverwalk, the first phase of which is built along Boone between Green Street and Riverside Drive, along the south bank. A second and third phase would extend the walk from the Route 120 bridge near Sullivan Foods to Weber’s Park along Riverside Drive.

The first big development along the riverwalk was Riverwalk Place Townhomes, farther east along the creek

McHenry established a tax-increment financing district to support riverwalk efforts and downtown redevelopment.

Under tax-increment financing, tax revenue from increasing property values within the district is funneled toward projects city leaders think will help revitalize the district.

City Administrator Doug Maxeiner said $550,000 in revenue was generated in 2007.