Huntley moves ahead with business incubator shops construction work at Hackett House

Construction on the incubator shops in downtown Huntley is about to begin.

The Village Board recently approved two contracts for the construction work, one for outside work and one for work inside Hackett House. Officials expect construction will be complete by Oct. 1, according to village documents.

Huntley’s longtime goal has been to have the shops open in time for the holiday season. Plans for Shops on Main include a winter market from Nov. 1 to Dec. 21 before going on break from just before Christmas to the end of April. The main season will run from May 1 to Dec. 20, 2026.

The inside of the Hackett House near the intersection of Route 47 and Main Street will be renovated to make way for three shops. Huntley received a $975,000 grant from U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood for the project that must be spent by the end of the year, but Huntley Village Manager Dave Johnson said those dollars would not be used for the Hackett House improvements in order to keep future options flexible and avoid potential federal oversight.

“By keeping Hackett renovations separate from the [Small Business Administration] funds, the village retains full control over future improvements, municipal use options or commercial leasing potential,” Johnson said.

Huntley expects the Hackett House renovations to cost $150,000, and the Village Board also gave a thumbs-up to a budget amendment for that.

A kitchen on the first floor will be converted to a restroom, according to plans provided to the Village Board; a second bathroom in the building is necessary to comply with code requirements, Johnson said.

Originally, Huntley’s plans called for four shops inside Hackett House and five outside. Now, three shops will be inside while six will be outside, according to village material.

Once the shops open, Huntley will be the third McHenry County-area municipality to have the concept. Woodstock had incubator space in the Old Courthouse, and the first class of businesses graduated and moved out.

However, the program’s future is uncertain. City officials have said they will not do the program in the Old Courthouse again.

Naturally McHenry County, which was located in Hackett House before the incubators were proposed, has moved into the Old Courthouse in Woodstock.

In McHenry, the next season for the Riverwalk Shoppes launches in May and will feature four returning enterprises and six new ones, including a romance bookstore from Star 105.5-FM’s Tina Bree.

Huntley’s approach is a combination of McHenry’s and Woodstock’s with inside and outside shops.

Representatives for the contractor were present at the meeting, but neither the representatives nor the board weighed in before the vote.

It passed unanimously, with Trustees Ronda Goldman, Harry Leopold, Ric Zydorowicz, John Piwko and Vito Benigno voting in favor. Goldman and Leopold will leave the board later this spring after they opted not to run in the April 1 local election. Marilynn Berendt and Don Walz will join the board, and Trustee JR Westberg, who was not present for the incubator vote, also won reelection in the uncontested race for three seats. Piwko mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Village President Tim Hoeft, secured another term in office. Results remain unofficial until the canvass later in April.