Justin Fern’s Urban Equity Properties is bringing an international coffee chain to downtown Rockford and reviving a dormant corner of downtown .
Fern — who said he was told he would never be able to lure a national tenant to downtown Rockford — on Friday announced Starbucks will open a 1,700-square-foot café inside State & Main, 211 W. State St.
“It wasn’t easy, but we’re there,” Fern said. “It’s going right here at State & Main in this building on the ground floor. And it will be, I should mention, one of the coolest Starbucks designs that anyone has seen.”
Urban Equity Properties is investing in an estimated $4.1 million rehabilitation of the long-vacant 11,770-square-foot mixed use Art Deco building . There is space for a second retailer on the ground floor. It will feature modernized loft offices on the second and third floors.
Construction of the Starbucks is expected to be done in November. It is hoped the store will open by Stroll on State on Nov. 30.
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