A credit union will build a new branch at the former site of Shopko in Dubuque.
Collins Community Credit Union announced Tuesday it purchased land at 255 John F. Kennedy Road to build a second Dubuque location. The credit union currently has a branch at 4855 Asbury Road.
The JFK site was the former home of Shopko, which closed in the summer of 2019. The property owners previously confirmed to the Telegraph Herald their intention to demolish the former Shopko building this winter.
“We’ve been looking to expand in the Dubuque area for quite some time,” said John Lewis, Collins Community Credit Union vice president of information technology and facilities. “We do like this lot quite a bit. It’s a relatively central location for where our members are, and there’s good traffic there.”
Lewis said the new building is still in the design phase, but it will be about 30,000 square feet and consist of three floors. The Collins branch will take up the first floor, and leasable office space will be available on the second and third floors. The branch will offer a full range of banking services, including a drive-thru.
Lewis added that the lot purchased by Collins is almost entirely inside where the current Shopko building sits, meaning the branch location will be in the middle of the property.
There are not a lot of other lots in the area that would be a good fit for a building of this size, Lewis said, noting that Collins has outgrown its Asbury Road location.
“We think it’s important to have a much better presence in Dubuque,” Lewis said. “It’s going to become a new, long-term home for us.”
Officials plan to start construction as soon as possible this spring, Lewis said. He said they hope to move into the space by the end of the year, but noted that ongoing supply chain issues might affect the project timeline.
The Shopko building on the property is still set to be demolished by this spring, according to Joe Bell, Cafaro Co. spokesman. The former store spans 84,000 square feet, according to online property records.
Bell said that conversations with Collins Community Credit Union on purchasing part of the property began shortly after Cafaro Co. purchased the property in 2020. A deal was then proposed in November, though Bell declined to discuss details of the sale.
“It’s the perfect use of that particular parcel,” he said. “Considering the other commercial retailers in that area, it’s busy and well-trafficked. It will fit Collins well.”
Bell added that Cafaro Co. has retained two other parcels of property at the former Shopko site for future development.
He said that two other buildings will most likely go into those parcels, depending on their size and parking needs. It’s possible they could also include multiple tenants, he said.
“We haven’t determined specifically what it will be,” he said. “We’re in conversations with a variety of potential different users. It could be used for any commercial purposes, at this point.”