After 30 years, the tiny coffee shop inside Northbrook’s Metra train station faces an unclear future, with commuters waiting to see whether they’ll still be able to get their morning java.
The Village Board voted unanimously at its Nov. 12 meeting to grant the Grind Cafe a six-month extension of its lease at the current rent of $275 a month, but to end that lease after six months and issue a request for proposals, or RFP, from would-be tenants.
“The current sub-lessee had expressed a concern with any increase in the monthly rent and desired to enter into a 6-month sub-lease to give both parties the opportunity to consider all options moving forward,” Public Works Director Kelly Hamill said in a report to the board.
Grind owner Charlie Bliss of Park Ridge began leasing the space at the train station in 1994, Hamill said. In 2023, Northbrook lowered the monthly rent for the Grind Cafe from $400 to $275 “due to a lack of commuters utilizing the Metra station post pandemic,” he said.
“However, over the last year the village has experienced an increase in the use of its parking facilities by commuters and determined that an increase in the rent is warranted,” Hamill said.
Bliss said The Grind, which was closed for about two and a half years during the pandemic, never recovered from the drop in business due to the decline in commuters traveling to Chicago daily.
“If the village had not worked with us, we would be closed,” he said.
Bliss said he is not certain whether he will submit a proposal under the village’s RFP in six months. The Grind is open only four hours each weekday and does very little business on Mondays and Fridays, when most downtown workers exercise the option to work from home, he said.
“I wish it was back to the way it used to be,” Bliss said. “It was a fun atmosphere. It’s getting better each month. We’ll see what happens. We have to make money to survive.”
Like any other interested tenant, Bliss will be required to submit a proposal under the RFP if he wants to continue leasing the space in six months, Northbrook spokesman Nicholas Glenn said via email.
Bliss will not receive priority consideration as the previous tenant, Glenn said.
“All submittals that meet the requirements of the RFP will be given equal consideration,” he said.
The RFP will request all necessary information from prospective tenants, Glenn said.
“(The) RFP is written to include items such as background information, scope of services(s) being sought, evaluation criteria, key terms (conditions) and deadlines,” he said.
Interested parties will get about 30 days to submit a proposal after the village issues the formal RFP, Glenn said. No prospective tenants have inquired yet about the impending vacancy, he said.
Northbrook is engaged in a licensing agreement with Metra to operate and maintain the train station, 1401 Shermer Road, Hamill said. The two bodies reached the current agreement, which will last 40 years, in 2016, he said.
“In consideration for entering into this current agreement, Metra funded approximately $325,000 in repairs to the station, which were undertaken in 2017,” Hamill said.
Under the pact, which also operates as a lease, Metra is responsible for an additional $3,000 in improvements and for snow removal from the station platforms, he said.
“The village is responsible for routine maintenance, cleaning, landscaping and clearing snow from public walks in front of the station,” Hamill said. “With this lease, the village is also able to sublease space within the station for a coffee shop or other businesses.”
Northbrook’s initial lease with Metra began in 1988, according to the sub-lease with Bliss. The space used by Grind spans about 232 square feet, including two storage closets, plus limited common space in the north entry hallway and station waiting area, it states.
