The Village of Clarendon Hills publishes a weekly report from its Community Development Department. The October 9, 2026 edition read like a punch list for one building. Inside the old Starbucks at 100 Park Ave., the custom countertops were in and the floors were done. The kitchen equipment and sinks had been installed. A catwalk and a second-floor space had been completed, and staff training was underway. The report said Sparrow Coffee's October soft opening was "almost here."
That corner has been dark for a long time. Patch reported in January 2023 that the Starbucks was expected to close that spring. Since then, the building at the busiest intersection downtown has become more than a coffee shop. The village is using it to test what downtown Clarendon Hills can draw, and most of this fall's other downtown changes are being measured against it.
Three buildings that were never meant to be one
From the sidewalk, 100 Park Ave. looks like one building. It isn't. Sparrow's plan joined three separate units into a single café. To do that, the State Farm office and Little Creperie had to relocate. In October 2025, owner Chris Chacko asked for more time. Patch reported that he described the three buildings as put together in a "haphazard and unorthodox fashion." Rather than add dozens of wooden roof trusses, the design used structural steel engineered by Michael Abraham.
The plan presented to the Village Board in October 2024 was larger than a counter and some tables. It called for:
- About 70 indoor seats plus outdoor seating, with an expanded east terrace and possible seating on the west side
- A rear exit off Prospect, with crosswalks and parking reworked around it
- Wider openings for a brighter interior, and a loft that could host after-hours events
- New ADA bathrooms, drainage work, and upgraded electrical and structural systems
The loft is the catwalk and second floor the October report describes as finished. That much work explains the schedule. Here is how the deadline moved:
- October 21, 2024: The Village Board approves the Sparrow redevelopment agreement, with the opening due by Halloween 2025.
- Fall 2025: A six-month extension moves the deadline to April 30, 2026.
- 2026: A second six-month extension sets the deadline at Halloween 2026.
- September 21, 2026: At a board meeting, Chacko sets a soft opening for around October 15 and a full opening later in the month.
Patch reported that he told the board he had "99 percent confidence it will open in October," and the room applauded. As of this week, Halloween is about nine days away.
Why the village put $622,500 behind a café
The village's share is $622,500 for indoor and outdoor improvements. Sparrow is putting in nearly $2.6 million of its own. The village's money comes from a tax increment financing district, or TIF. In a TIF, growth in property tax revenue is reinvested in the same district, and the expectation is that the added tax income pays back the subsidy over time.
Under that arrangement, the café's success feeds back into the downtown district that paid for it. Patch's September coverage described Sparrow as seen as so critical to downtown that some residents urged officials to hold off on other downtown improvements until they could see the café's effect. The officials did not wait, as the next two sections show. But the request shows how the corner is viewed. People are counting on it to bring foot traffic to the blocks around it.
What Sparrow brings from Fulton Street
Sparrow roasts at 2040 W. Fulton St. in Chicago, where Chacko is the master roaster. Sparrow's website says its coffee is served at the majority of Chicago's Michelin-starred restaurants. It also says Sparrow has served more Michelin-starred restaurants in the Chicago area, past and present, than any other Chicago roaster.
The closest preview is the Naperville Riverwalk café at 120 Water St., open since 2018. Sparrow lists its hours there as 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day and says 99% of its pastries and food are made in-house. Clarendon Hills hours have not been posted yet. At the September board meeting, as Patch reported, Chacko described the bakery side this way:
"Our croissants take four days to make just like they do in France. We run a different kind of coffee shop."
He also called the new space the place where "great architecture meets craft coffee." He said the wait was worth it "because we did it correctly."
The triangle across the street
The village voted on the rest of downtown the same night Chacko gave his update. On September 21, trustees approved a $1.9 million no-bid downtown improvement contract with Christopher Burke Engineering, a Rosemont-based firm, Patch reported. It replaced a larger version, about $3.2 million, that a board majority rejected in July. The smaller plan dropped the street pavers, a zero-grade street design, new light poles, and string lights.
It kept the most debated piece, retractable bollards that can close the Sloan Triangle at Prospect and Park avenues to cars during village events. The triangle sits across the intersection from Sparrow's front door. The village first proposed a permanent plaza there, but many residents opposed it because of traffic. At the September meeting, opponents said the barriers could back traffic up to the railroad tracks. Trustees and village staff disagreed about what the firm's traffic study showed. The village's Downtown Improvement Plan page confirms the revised scope passed. It does not yet list construction dates.
The board has now approved both the café and the event space next to it. A finished Sparrow with its east terrace, plus a triangle that can close for events, puts seating and gathering room on facing corners of the same intersection.
Every other downtown change this fall
Sparrow is the most visible project at the moment, but the same October 9 village report lists several others:
- 9 S. Prospect Ave. A proposed operator has applied to remodel and open a new restaurant in the former Cabo space. The village has not yet named the operator or the concept.
- 104 Walker and 301 Park Ave. Construction fencing was expected to go up this month, along with a pre-construction meeting. The project is Parkside Place, a four-story building with 17 condominiums, ground-floor commercial space, and covered parking. Redwood Construction is the developer, and the board approved the zoning in September 2025, according to Patch.
- 200 Park Ave. Public Works scheduled sidewalk and curb replacement for October 12 through 16 to remove trip hazards.
- Walker alley. Crews finished installing new signs and crosswalks.
Ground-floor commercial space at Parkside Place and a new restaurant at 9 S. Prospect both sit within a short walk of 100 Park. All of these projects add places to stop near the same corner.
A fall calendar that runs through downtown
Sparrow's expected opening lands right before the first big downtown dates of the season. These are listed by the Clarendon Hills Park District and the Clarendon Hills Chamber of Commerce:
- Friday, October 23: Last day to enter the free Halloween house-decorating contest for residents. Voting opens the week of October 26, and winners are announced on Halloween.
- Thursday, October 29, 4 to 7 p.m.: Boo on the Block at Prospect Park, with free trick-or-treating, vendors, food trucks, and activities.
- Saturday, December 5, 4 to 8 p.m.: The Chamber's Holiday Walk. Merchant shopping starts at 4 p.m., and the tree lighting is at 5 p.m. in front of Village Hall. There will also be horse-drawn wagon rides, roasted chestnuts, and a visit with Santa.
- Friday, December 11, 4 to 7 p.m.: Santa's Workshop at the Community Center. It is free for residents, but registration is required and each time slot is capped at 100 people.
- December 15, 17, and 18: Candy Cottage Creations, Family Holiday BINGO, and Sip into the Season, all at the Community Center.
If Sparrow meets its October target, Boo on the Block and the Holiday Walk will be the first two big downtown nights with the corner open.
Downtown business activity is part of what we track in Clarendon Hills. If you want to talk through what these downtown changes could mean for your own street, K&J Homes is happy to have that conversation over a cup of coffee at Park and Prospect. Let's Connect.
