The city of West Chicago has long been one of the best kept secrets in DuPage County, according to Mayor Mike Kwasman.

But now people are finding out about ambitious new development in the fast-growing city at the western edge of the county.

Nonetheless, the mayor cautioned that the city is keeping an eye on the economy and adjusting its plans accordingly—not doing too little but not overstepping either.

“We are selling community growth. I refer to myself as a peddler,” he said. “In my other job I am a manufacturer’s representative selling private label apparel.”

At the heart of West Chicago’s economic activity is the redevelopment of the downtown area, featuring an eclectic a mix of retail space, residential loft units and condominiums.

But all growth is not in the suburb’s downtown. Another center of development is the DuPageNational Technology Park, which started construction of the infrastructure in 2005. A Pella Windows facility was opened in 2006. Now plans are being made for other buildings on the park’s 800-acre site adjacent to the DuPage Airport.

In addition to the park, there is another area of activity on the city’s north side at Ill. Rte. 59 and Ill. Rte. 64 (North Avenue).

On the southwest corner the redevelopment of a former Dominick’s grocery store included attracting the Springbrook grocery store, a European-style market.

“We went after them with the economic incentives of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district,” said Kwasman. The former occupant had put restrictive covenants on the use of the space. “But the city would not stand for it,” the mayor stated.

Kwasman said the city’s philosophy was to break up big box stores which had been closed and transform the large spaces into smaller anchor stores with 25,000 to 30,000 square-feet within the original 100,000-square-foot spaces.

The same type of plan was used for a former K-Mart where the anchor portion of the space is used by Hobby Lobby. The rest of the space on the northeast corner of the same intersection is occupied by other stores.

“In these two situations and in the downtown redevelopment, we are selling community growth and ‘spendability’ in West Chicago,” Kwasman said.

But he added that plan does not include strip malls, which have been springing up more in other communities. The city adopted a plan in 2007 to avoid the typical strip mall by requiring that there be an anchor store which takes up a certain percentage of the total square-footage.

While the city is selling growth, municipal officials are keeping an eye on the local and national economy, according to Joanne Kalchbrenner, community development director.

“We want to be careful about the current economic conditions and make sure each portion of the downtown development is do-able and makes economic sense,” she said.

That philosophy includes dividing the downtown redevelopment plan into sub areas, she said, so one developer does not have to take the whole development.

“We can slow down the development process if the economy declines,” Kalchbrenner said.

Developer Jim Madden, Sr. is also sensitive to changing economic conditions. He noted that the original five-year development agreement (2002-07) with the city has been extended for two years as he and his son continue plans for more construction.

The company, Gateway Centre Development, hopes to start construction on a second condominium building sometime this year. It will be similar to the first condominium building which is part of the Gallery at Gateway Centre.

Twenty six of the 39 condominiums have been sold since pre construction sales started at the end of 2004. Prices range from $179,900 to $255,000 for units ranging from an 870 square-foot unit with one bedroom and one bath to 1,345 square foot unit with two bedrooms and two baths. Buyers include young professionals and empty nesters.

The first phase of West Chicago redevelopment stands just across the street at The Lofts at Gateway Centre, a group of 15 loft-style condominiums which have been sold out. The first floor includes 11,000 square-feet of retail/commercial space.

Residents of these two types of housing are close to a pizza store, a private postal facility and a bakery. Across the street are a gift shop, nail salon, cellular phone store, hair salon, credit union, dental office and physician’s office.

The next step is the opening of a new restaurant scheduled for this spring. The Texan Bar B Q will be a sit-down restaurant specializing in hickory-smoked barbecue favorites. The 5,115 square-foot facility will accommodate up to 140 patrons indoors and offer al fresco dining during the warmer months to an additional 44 patrons.

There are also numerous shops and restaurants one block west in the historic “Old Town” section of West Chicago.

In addition, curbs, gutters and streetlights have been installed, a 10-foot-wide brick-paved walkway has been constructed and trees and shrubbery have been planted along Main Street. Overhead electric wires were removed and placed underground.

“The streetscape work really creates a more harmonious look and feel for pedestrians and drivers alike, and give a great first impression to visitors, especially potential homebuyers,” said Jim Madden, Jr., president of Gateway Centre Development.

“Most people familiar with West Chicago are telling me how they can’t get over how attractive the downtown district has become.”

Gateway started these plans after finishing a similar development in downtown Lombard featuring two four-story condominium buildings with first-floor retail space on St. Charles Rd. near Main Street. The Maddens were referred to people in West Chicago by bankers with whom they had dealt.

Prior to the Lombard development, the Maddens’ company built one-level condominiums in Itasca, Roselle, Carol Stream and Naperville. The firm also built townhouses in Algonquin and Yorkville.

The Maddens said they have started doing redevelopments because municipalities usually embrace the company doing this type of construction.