Geneva's Niche restaurant explores new expansion opportunities

The property owner has leased the neighboring space to a real estate renter, prompting Niche to seek alternative ways to use its ARPA funds.

Author

Sam Kraft
January 17, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Welcome to Tri-Cities Central, a twice-weekly newsletter highlighting local happenings in Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles and surrounding communities.

Get yours: subscribe here. Refer a friend: share this link.

Niche, the award-winning restaurant in downtown Geneva, had plans to expand into the adjacent vacant space on 3rd Street after it was awarded a $40K American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant.

However, the property owner has leased that space to a real estate agency, prompting Niche to switch gears.

Key points

  • The ARPA funds were intended to cover most of the costs for adding an ADA-compliant restroom and fire alarm system.

  • The restaurant intended to invest more than $500K in an expansion project, which included installing a new bar and other upgrades.

  • Negotiations with the property owner did not result in a rental agreement, but Geneva officials confirmed that Niche can still utilize the ARPA grant for improvements at their current location or another suitable site.

Read more in this Daily Herald article.

📖 Thanks for reading

Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] with questions or comments.

Not signed up yet? Subscribe here.

Reply

or to participate.