Core Acquisitions plans to tear down the former Bob Evans on Neil Street, Champaign, and construct two buildings on the site, with one of them housing a Dutch Bros Coffee.
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CHAMPAIGN — A former restaurant near Market Place Shopping Center is slated to be torn down to make way for two new buildings, including one that will house a drive-thru coffee shop.
Adam Bell, vice president of development at Chicago-based Core Acquisitions, said the company has signed a lease with Dutch Bros. Coffee and is also in talks with an interested party that could become the coffee shop’s neighbor.
The plan is to tear down the former Bob Evans at 1813 N. Neil St. and replace it with two free-standing buildings.
When asked about the timeline for the Dutch Bros shop, Bell said Core plans to submit a permit in the next two weeks.
“Once we hit the March timeline and this awful winter’s over with, we’ll start construction,” he said. “Our goal is to get it turned over by the summer of next year and have (Dutch Bros) operating by the summer.”
The North Neil Street development will mark the second Dutch Bros location in C-U. An Urbana location at 809 W. Green St. is also in the works.
“For the Urbana location, that one is still on track to open this year,” a spokesperson told The News-Gazette. “Otherwise, we’re in the very early stages (in Champaign) so we don’t have any information to share at this time.”
As of Sept. 30, 2025, Dutch Bros had more than 1,000 locations in 24 states. President and CEO Christine Barone said in a recent quarterly report that the company is confident in its goal of reaching 2,029 shops by 2029.
The new Dutch Bros coffee shop at Lincoln and Green in Urbana is ‘still on track to open this year,’ according to a company spokesperson.
Core Acquisitions bought the North Neil Street property in August. Bob Evans’ restaurant at the site closed in October.
When asked if he knew why the location closed, Bell replied, “Unfortunately, I can’t really speak to that. I don’t know anything about their internal operations.”
Core Acquisitions — not to be confused with Core Spaces, which is also based in Chicago — also owns the Potbelly’s on Anthony Drive, he said.
“We’ve done a pretty significant amount of development work throughout the central Illinois area,” Bell said. “We did the Starbucks and Jersey Mike’s up in Rantoul in Champaign County. So (we’re) just very familiar with the area, and we really like this real estate.”
