A pair of banking/financial institutions will be filling the downtown Naperville space formerly occupied by Barnes & Noble, according to the real estate broker handling the leases.
Fidelity Investments and Wells Fargo will be taking over a large portion of the now-empty bookstore at Washington Street and Chicago Avenue, said broker Nathan Tonnies, who represents property landlord LLJ Venture, based in San Diego.
Both businesses have signed long-term corporate leases for different portions of the building, said Tonnies, of Vertex Commercial Real Estate, an Illinois brokerage that specializes in retail properties.
“We’re really excited about these two tenants coming to that building, and we’re really excited about the people that it’s going to bring to help support the restaurants and other users that are in the area,” he said.
Barnes & Noble closed its downtown Naperville storefront at 47 E. Chicago Ave. in January. At the time, a Barnes & Noble spokesperson said the store — which had operated from its Chicago Avenue perch for 25 years — was vacating because of an expired lease.
“It was simply that the landlord chose not to renew the lease,” Janine Flanigan, senior director of store planning and design for Barnes & Noble, said at the time.
Discussions over the expiring lease and future tenants had been broached at least as early as January 2023, according to records obtained by the Naperville Sun through a Freedom of Information Act Request.
City staff exchanged email at that time with representatives from the Downtown Naperville Alliance and the Naperville Development Partnership regarding a proposed Fidelity location in the Barnes & Noble building, records show.
Plans were finalized nine months later, records show.
In late October — two months before Barnes & Noble announced its Naperville closure — Tonnies notified Naperville Development Partnership President Christine Jeffries in an email that leases with Fidelity and Wells Fargo had been signed.
“Lease was signed with Fidelity for the Barnes space … they will be taking a big chunk of the second floor with their entrance/retail experience on a small portion of the ground floor,” Tonnies wrote to Jeffries. “And … Wells Fargo signed their lease for the rest of the ground floor to do a retail bank branch there.”
Jeffries did not return requests for comment.
Tonnies confirmed the tenancy plans. “The leases are signed with them,” he said.
In an email Monday, Wells Fargo Illinois spokesperson Jentill Neal said that the company is “excited as we expand our branch network in Chicago” and that it looks forward to “opening the branch at 47 E. Chicago Avenue in Naperville.”
A Fidelity spokesperson reached Monday said that “we have nothing to announce at this time.” They added, “We are always evaluating our real estate portfolio to ensure we are operating in a space that meets our client and business needs.”
The businesses are splitting 10,600 square feet, according to Tonnies. Wells Fargo is planning to occupy 4,154 square feet of ground floor space, he said, and Fidelity is to take a small section of ground floor space and a larger portion of the second floor.
The idea is the ground floor would be used for retail-focused services while the upstairs would be a financial institution for Fidelity, as is permitted by city code.
The former Barnes & Noble building is zoned B4, which is Naperville’s downtown core district, according to Alison Laff, deputy director of Naperville’s Transportation, Engineering and Development department. Under B4, a ground level bank would be permitted, Laff said, as that would fit in with the businesses the city tries to attract downtown.
“Our downtown core really strives to have uses that are customer interactive,” she said. “So, something that someone may walk by and decide that they need to stop in to use one of the services.”
Financial institutions — which are defined in city code as “private or public organizations that act as a channel between investors and borrowers of funds with primary services such as financial advising, brokerage, and investment” — are also permitted under B4 but second floor and above only, Laff said.
Asked about Wells Fargo and Fidelity coming to downtown Naperville, Laff said, “That’s what we’ve been told” but noted that as of last week, the city had not yet received building permit requests for either business.
“Until we actually see a permit, we’re just sort of speculating at this point,” Laff said.
As for when the businesses would be operational, Tonnies said that’s “unknown” but he is hoping it will be within the next 12 months.
Apart from Wells Fargo and Fidelity, there is still 8,000 square feet of leasable space on the second floor at the former Barnes & Noble up for grabs, Tonnies said. Describing the opening as “flex,” Tonnies said there’s “a lot of possibilities.”
“You probably can’t do more financial,” he said, “but some kind of medical or spa or even an entertainment use or fitness — all of those are possible up there.”
