Sparrow Coffee had until Halloween 2026 to open at 100 Park Ave. It opened about 10 days early. That deadline was in a subsidy agreement with the Village, it had been extended several times from an original Halloween 2025 date, and it came with $622,000 from the downtown tax increment financing district.
Across the street at 27 S. Prospect Ave., a separate deadline has passed without a result. On Oct. 14, the Village Manager's memo told the Village Board to terminate a $265,000 TIF grant for the planned Prospect Tavern.
The Village is paying for downtown's next chapter with TIF money, and each project's timeline is a contract term. When you walk Prospect Avenue for the Holiday Walk on Saturday, Dec. 5, you'll pass a project that met its terms, one the Village wants to end, a corner it hopes to fill, and the sidewalk it's about to rebuild.
The one that opened: Sparrow at 100 Park Ave.
Sparrow moved into the old Starbucks space and merged three units on the block into one storefront. The soft opening was announced on Instagram on Wednesday, Oct. 14, and the Hinsdale Journal reported it open the week of Oct. 19.
For now the hours are limited to 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every day. In the shop's own words, "Limited hours at first." If those hours are still in place on Dec. 5, Sparrow will close a few hours before the tree is lit at Village Hall. On Holiday Walk day, plan on coffee in the morning, not during the walk.
Owner Chris Chacko told the Village Board on Sept. 21, according to the meeting minutes, that Sparrow makes 99 percent of what it sells and that its croissants take four days to make. Sparrow also runs a cafe in Naperville and a roastery in Chicago, Patch reported. There's no drive-thru planned.
The opening also affects the Village's other plans. The Village's FAQ on the proposed downtown plaza expects Sparrow to bring in some morning traffic. The Hinsdale Journal reported that some residents asked the Village to see how Sparrow affects downtown before committing to more improvements. Now that it's open, that's possible.
The one the Village wants to end: 27 S. Prospect
Prospect Tavern was meant to get the same kind of help as Sparrow, $265,000 toward renovating 27 S. Prospect Ave. Its history has gone back and forth. Village staff first proposed ending the agreement in April, and the board voted unanimously to give the Village more time to work things out with the owner, according to Patch. A month later, staff again recommended termination, and that item was pulled from the agenda.
The Oct. 19 board packet states the issue precisely. The proposed resolution says the default was a failure to apply for the building permits the project needed, and that the 15-day cure period ended without a fix or substantial steps toward one. The packet says the Village sent a term sheet on Sept. 24 and set an Oct. 12 deadline to sign it. The memo says no alternative agreement was approved or signed by then. The owner has publicly disputed that he defaulted, according to Patch.
The board took up the item on Oct. 19. The resolution in the packet has blank vote fields, and the Village Agenda Center is where the minutes will be posted with the outcome. Whatever the board decided, the building at 27 S. Prospect probably won't have a new restaurant by the Holiday Walk.
The corner the Village hopes to fill: 34 S. Prospect
Brama la Pizza had served pizza from the northwest corner of Prospect and Park since 2017. It closed in late summer after giving customers five days' notice on social media, and it still operates in Palos Hills. According to the Hinsdale Journal, partners of Il Mio owner Rich Ciota have bought the space at 34 S. Prospect Ave.
Il Mio has served Italian food next door at 30 S. Prospect since January 2022, so Ciota's group now controls two adjacent storefronts on one of downtown's most visible corners. The concept isn't settled yet. "My partners bought (the former Brama la Pizza space); however, we haven't finalized the concept yet," Ciota told the Hinsdale Journal. No opening timeline or purchase price has been announced.
Village President Eric Tech has said what he hopes goes in. "We would like to see a family-focused restaurant fill that space to serve our community and attract visitors from neighboring towns," he said, as reported by the Chicago Tribune and repeated by the Hinsdale Journal. He added that the board's willingness to invest in downtown would help bring in a high-quality business.
Under the TIF programs Tech described in September, owners who improve their building facades can get a 50-50 match from the Village, and business owners can get one-to-three investment assistance. Tech said he and Trustee Neha Chaudhry have met with every building owner and business owner in the Village to explain those programs. Nobody has said publicly whether the new owners of 34 S. Prospect will use them.
What the Village is paying for itself: the west-side sidewalk
On Sept. 21 the board voted 6-0 to approve a downtown streetscape contract with Burke LLC, capped at $1,897,877 plus a 5 percent contingency. The resolution waived the usual bidding process. This is a scaled-back version of a plan presented in July. Here's what was cut and what's still in:
| Dropped from the July proposal | Kept in the approved plan |
|---|---|
| Landscape changes at the Sloan Triangle | Wider sidewalk on the west side of Prospect |
| Pavers in the roadway | New brick pavers from Park Ave. to Railroad |
| Zero-grade street design | Redone planters at Railroad and mid-block, plus new planters at Railroad |
| New light poles and string lights | Electrical drop at the north end so events no longer need a generator |
| Removable bollards at both ends for special events |
Two changes in that list will affect how downtown feels during the week. Outdoor dining in the parking stalls goes away, and the wider sidewalk is supposed to take its place. The slip lane stays. The new stage location means the stage can be moved for Dancin' in the Street, and Park Avenue is meant to stay open during that event. Public Works told the board the new pavers would change how snow is cleared on that stretch without making it harder.
Christopher Burke Engineering told the board the work should be substantially complete by Daisy Days, with the material changes finished and some cosmetic work possibly still to do. No construction start date has been published.
Walking it on Dec. 5
The Clarendon Hills Chamber of Commerce Holiday Walk runs from 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. Il Mio and Vintage Charm/Four Sons Mercantile are presenting the free horse-drawn wagon rides.
- 4 p.m.: Merchant shopping starts across downtown.
- 4 to 8 p.m.: Free horse-drawn wagon rides load near Village Hall at Golf and Burlington. The Daisy Express runs through downtown, sponsored by Lifelong Health, Best Ever Skin and Rooted Chiropractic.
- 4 to 8 p.m.: S'mores station and fire pit, with kits from Zabler Design Jewelers.
- 4:15 to 7:15 p.m.: Anna and Elsa at Burlington Plaza.
- 5 p.m.: Tree lighting in front of Village Hall.
- 5:30 to 8 p.m.: Santa and the Clarendon Hills Park District elves at the Village Triangle, with a treat afterward at My Mechanic's tent.
- All evening: The Infant Welfare Society's luminaria sale. Details are on the Infant Welfare Society's luminaria page.
The rest of the season at the Community Center
The Clarendon Hills Park District has events at the Community Center on either side of the walk:
- Taste of Chocolate: Friday, Nov. 13, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
- Dine & Dance: Friday, Nov. 20, 6 to 8 p.m.
- Santa's Workshop: Friday, Dec. 11, 4 to 7 p.m. Registration is required and space is limited.
- Candy Cottage Creations: Tuesday, Dec. 15, 4 to 5 p.m.
- Family Holiday BINGO: Thursday, Dec. 17, 4 to 5 p.m.
- Sip into the Season: Friday, Dec. 18, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
The Park District's Santa letter drop-off begins Nov. 1, and registration for it runs through Dec. 12.
If you own a building or a home near Prospect Avenue and want to know how a new cafe, a pending restaurant corner and a rebuilt sidewalk could affect how your property shows next year, Jessica Halkias is happy to go over it with you. Schedule a complimentary home consultation, and we'll talk it through over a Sparrow croissant before the 1:30 close.
