ALDI construction to begin soon

ANTIGO — ALDI recently closed on the roughly 20,000 square foot property next to Culver’s and plans to begin construction in a few months, according to City Administrator Karin Derauf.

Derauf provided an update on the project at a City Council Economic Development Committee meeting Monday night.

“The next step for them, they will be coming forward to the city to start applying for their permits for grading, building construction, those kinds of things as they move through their process,” Derauf said. “The anticipation is they will break ground and start work late summer, early fall. Their plan is to have the store done and opened by January of 2025.”

Derauf’s briefing Monday included a summary of the ALDI’s specific building plans for the lot.

“Site improvements will include curb and gutter — they talked about potential sidewalk that may come at a later date in time. There’s asphalt and concrete paving. They’ll provide landscaping. There’s going to be a retention pond in behind the property. So they have met all the zoning requirements and all the submitted building requirements,” she said.

The only comment regarding the developments came from committee member Tammy Skenandore, who questioned whether ALDI might increase the number of handicapped spaces planned for the parking lot. She said currently, the plans include four handicapped spots.

“I just think with the amount of elderly and disabled people in the area [it makes sense], and if you ever go to Walmart, basically all the handicapped spots are taken up during the day,” Skenandore said.

“We could certainly let our zoning administrator know, and she can certainly reach out to them, or I can, and just find out if we can add an additional handicapped space or two additional, whatever the need is,” Derauf said.

Derauf said that though no construction has yet begun at the site, to her knowledge, ALDI often erects buildings quite quickly.

“They’re sitting in a good position to get the store opened by January of 2025,” She said. “From my experience in seeing ALDIs go up in the Twin Cities — they’re all over the place over there — they come in and they put the store in and it’s quite rapid from start to finish. They get it done pretty quickly, so it’s not unreasonable I think for a store to be opened by January of 2025 in that location.”