By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The owner of Fuego Nuevo Grill plans to move his restaurant to East State Street, where he will overhaul a vacant space for his wood-fired Mexican cuisine.
For Jose Chavez, the new location is the culmination of about 25 years in the restaurant industry. Chavez, 46, worked his way up from doing dishes and clearing tables to cooking, waiting tables, managing, co-owning, owning and now operating out of a building he owns outright.
His five-year lease at 6876 Spring Creek Road expires May 31, and last month he purchased 5494 E. State St. The building was home to Tumbleweed until it closed in 2008 and then Ichiban and Hibachi Buffet.
But there’s a lot of work to do before he moves into the space.
The property was stripped of key components like air conditioning and the hood system, and purchasing the building and making renovations is estimated to cost more than $1 million combined.
“We have to replace everything, and we have to … makeup all the building inside and outside to make a fresh look,” Chavez said. “It’s a big project.”
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Seeking city support
Chavez has requested financial support from the city through its tax-increment finance district. TIF districts, a financial tool meant to help cities spur development in blighted or abandoned areas, capture increases in property tax revenue that come from improvements on a building into a special fund. The city anticipates about $150,000 in TIF funds could be generated from the improvements to be turned back over to Chavez, said Karl Franzen, the city’s director of community and economic development.
“It’s in a corridor that we in the city are certainly interested in making sure it remains strong,” Franzen said.
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The future restaurant is located in front of the former Circuit City on East State Street. It’s also near OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center, several car dealerships and other businesses. That could help expose Chavez’s restaurant to new customers.
“We have a big potential over there,” he said.
A potential redevelopment deal with the city also calls for Rockford to resurface a beaten down and pothole-filled access road that winds off East State Street to the restaurant.
The city wants “to make sure that has good aesthetics to be able to attract their clientele,” Franzen said.
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Aldermen on the City Council’s Planning and Development Committee on Monday laid over a vote on the redevelopment deal so they could gather more information about the proposal.
Quality food made from scratch
Chavez, a native of Mexico who came to the country at age 21, has been in Rockford for about 15 years. He previously jointly owned Mexico Clasico, 3929 Broadway, before selling it to his business partner about five years ago and opening Fuego Nuevo inside space on Spring Creek Road that he leases.
He’s not sure yet when the Spring Creek location will close, but he plans to ask the landlord if he can switch to a month-by-month lease so he can keep it running while renovating the East State Street space.
“It totally depends on the landlord,” he said.
The new location will have the same wood-fired menu options such as carne asada tacos, ribeye enchiladas and pollo borracho that have become popular staples at Fuego Nuevo.
“We really, really cook from scratch. Everything is home made,” Chavez said. “I really, really, really focus on the quality of the food.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.