A new entertainment business revolving around the concept of interactive gaming could occupy an 8,100-square-foot storefront within the Fox River Commons shopping center in Naperville, based on a recently announced proposal.
Activate Games is the name of the proposed business. The Canadian company is seeking a conditional-use permit from city officials to take root in Naperville and occupy a vacant building at 804 S. Route 59, between La Fox and Ogden avenues.
Concept described as ‘active entertainment’
Photo courtesy: Activate Games
Jeremiah Sizemore, president of the company, outlined the business concept in a letter to city officials.
“Activate Games is a new form of active entertainment, growing in the North American market,” Sizemore wrote. “Our mission is to provide the world’s premier interactive gaming experience, blending fitness with re-playable custom games.”
Dylan Tighe, vice president of new development with Activate, delved deeper into the business concept when he gave a presentation to the Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission at a meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 16.
“We are a new concept that’s growing,” Tighe said. “It’s suitable for everyone everywhere, of all skill levels, fitness levels. You can choose your own adventure.”
Activate offers its customers a 75-minute interactive session through a wristband system that company officials said is designed to help control the number of people entering the facility at any given time.
The goal, Tighe said, is to provide users with a familiar activity around a new and innovative physical experience. The company offers its customers a menu of 550 different challenges that can be chosen upon admission.
Activate planning 50 new U.S. locations
In his presentation before Naperville commissioners, Tighe indicated Activate is in growth mode, with plans of opening new centers in locales scattered across the globe. The point was outlined in a company news release, announcing the planned opening of 50 new locations within the U.S. in the coming years.
Photo courtesy: Activate Games
Activate currently operates 40 locations across Canada and the U.S. One Chicago-area center, in Oak Brook, opened a year-and-a-half ago, Tighe said, and has been well received within the city and region.
Speaking to the company’s plans for Naperville, Tighe said, “We are really excited to be here. We feel this area is a really amazing opportunity for us.”
Commissioners give their backing to Activate plans
Photo courtesy: Activate Games
Based on the plans in motion, Activate will occupy an existing retail space. Tighe indicated the company has designs to “do a facelift on an old building.” A series of interior modifications also are part of the plans to fit in with the company’s business plan.
From a technical standpoint, the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council each need to vote on the Activate proposal since, on paper, the business plan is considered a “major change” to an existing planned unit development document for Fox River Commons that is on file with the city.
To that end, a conditional-use permit is necessary for Activate to occupy the Route 59 building.
Commissioners gave the proposal a favorable recommendation, and Activate’s request for the permit advances to the City Council for a binding vote.
“We have no shortage of kids in Naperville, so this is probably going to be a pretty good location,” Oriana Van Someren, chair of the Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission, said. “It looks like a really cool concept.”
Photo courtesy: Activate Games
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