Interior demolition work has begun inside the shuttered Sam’s Club in Rolling Meadows, with developer Windfall Group renovating the big box space into an Asian-centric lifestyle center of restaurants, shops and entertainment. I plan to reuse it. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
After being closed for nearly 15 years, the former Sam’s Club in Rolling Meadows is finally back in action. However, you may not be able to see it in person.
Construction crews will be working inside a 129,000-square-foot big box, tearing down old electrical and mechanical systems for a new owner’s planned Asian-centric lifestyle center of restaurants, shops and entertainment. We are planning to prepare a cave-like space.
The $10 million redevelopment project at the northwest corner of Golf Road and Algonquin Road, called Pacifica on Golf, will feature an anchor Asian grocery store, family entertainment and six restaurants. It will be included.
The building had been vacant since 2010, when the local Sam’s was shuttered nationwide by warehouse club retailers, but developer Windfall Group and city officials broke ground in June and September. An aggressive construction schedule was set, with shovels in and ribbons to go. -Reduction by January 2026.
With most tenants lining up and eager to open, city councilors recently agreed to lift city building permits for interior demolition work. Another permit for outdoor site upgrades will be granted next month after the Chicago Metropolitan Water Reclamation District completes a review of its stormwater management plan.
“If a building has been vacant for many years, there’s going to be a lot of work to do before you can start building something new in it,” said Glenn Cole, assistant city manager and director of community development for Rolling Meadows. he said. “They’re going to have a clean slate. They’re not going to work around the old stuff. But from a code standpoint, they’re going to have to deal with complex things like sizing electrical service for all the different tenants, fire protection for all the tenants. All that is happening (now).”
After this “ready-to-go type work,” workers will build interior walls to create at least 10 tenant spaces, Cole said.
Sam’s Club at Rolling Meadows (left) will become Pacifica on Golf, a $10 million shopping center anchored by an Asian grocery store with family entertainment and six restaurants. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
Windfall has announced leases or letters of intent from the following companies:
• Enson Market is a 42,789 square foot grocery store serving the Asian community.
• A yet unnamed 33,636 square foot family entertainment/recreation center.
• Infunite Claw Machine Arcade, an 8,000 square foot gaming center.
• Daiso, an 8,000 square foot Japanese chain store selling home decor, stationery, food and cosmetics.
• Mango Mango is a 1,138 square foot dessert shop offering blended fruit drinks, teas, cakes and other treats.
• Gyu San, a 4,628-square-foot Japanese barbecue restaurant.
• Lao Sze Chuan shares 5,000 square feet of space and serves traditional Sichuan cuisine and Te’Amo bubble tea.
• Kyuramen is a 3,740 square foot Japanese ramen restaurant.
• Izakaya Nana, a 7,125-square-foot traditional sit-down Japanese restaurant and sake bar.
• Shanghai Dumplings, a 3,236-square-foot restaurant.
Pacifica on Golf is a $10 million renovation of the former Sam’s Club Big Box in Rolling Meadows that will focus restaurants and an outdoor courtyard in front of Golf Road, while an Asian grocery store will open in Algonquin. It is planned to be the center of development along the road. Provided by City of Rolling Meadows
“We’ve been securing tenants for a while,” Cole said. “When you’re not building speculatively, and you actually have tenants and want to move in, you want to move faster. I don’t think I felt it.”
In addition to interior renovations to the one-story building, exterior work on the nine-acre site will include changes to traffic circulation, pedestrian access, utilities, parking, and loading.
A bioswale with sandy soil and native plants will capture rainwater along the south edge of the east parking lot, while the south parking lot will be rebuilt and reconfigured.
Even during the initial interior renovation process, a transportation plan will be in place to direct trucks transporting materials from the site, Cole said.
