Waukegan markets downtown storefronts

Entrepreneur open house set Thursday

WAUKEGAN -- With the Juz Jokkin Comedy Club scheduled to close its doors and move to Gurnee following a final set of shows this weekend, 115 N. Genesee St. will become another downtown storefront in need of occupancy.

"We've had four years in Waukegan, and it's time to do something different," said club owner and host Sonya D, adding that final details are being worked out to re-open Nov. 20 in the Vista Hotel & Conference Center, 6161 Grand Ave.

Juz Jokkin's departure comes as the city prepares to host an "entrepreneur open house," scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, to market six vacant storefronts between Grand Avenue and Washington Street.

Robin Schabes, the city's director of downtown and lakefront development, said the free event will operate out of one of the available sites -- Academy Square at 202 N. Genesee, which was constructed on the site of the demolished Fiesta Palace in 2007.

The multi-use building was slated to welcome a restaurant in a 9,000-square-foot space on its ground floor during the summer of 2008, but plans never materialized. Schabes said the building's owner is still "actively seeking restaurant types of use, and there are prospects for it."

Along with the Juz Jokkin site, other properties that will be featured Thursday include 228 N. Genesee, which housed a Dan Seals campaign office during his 2008 run in the 10th Congressional District; 118 N. Genesee, former home of Feinberg's and Casa Flores clothing stores; and 30 N. Genesee, which in recent years has housed Bacci's Italian Bistro and Campari Ristorante.

Also on the list are second- and third-floor spaces at 11 N. Genesee, which houses a Subway sandwich shop on its first floor. Schabes said possible uses for the above-ground space range from residential to office, and the city has been reaching out to a variety of small businesses to market all of the available sites.

"The economy's absolutely ripe for entrepreneurs looking to start a new venture," said Schabes, pointing to the available sites and mentioning such small-business possibilities as software developers.

Though the downtown area has been hit with its share of closed businesses in the recession, Schabes noted that several new ventures have either opened or are about to this autumn, including The Balderdash Collection resale/consignment shop (114 N. Genesee) and a new eatery in the former Uptown Cafe at County Street and Grand Avenue.