First it was County Market in 2016.
Next it was Family Video in 2021 and Burger King in 2024.
Soon after, Walgreens, CVS and Family Dollar closed their doors for good in 2025.
In the last nine years, Philo Road in Urbana has seen at least six major business closures with five of those buildings still sitting vacant.
In response to the closures, the City of Urbana launched Philo Road Ahead, a planning effort to revitalize the corridor with input from residents and businesses.
In September, Urbana Mayor Deshawn Williams hosted residents, youth and community leaders at a kickoff block party where people shared ideas on housing, business development and community needs. It took place at the Sunnycrest Center parking lot, an area where city crime data showed over 80 cases of reported retail theft in the past two and a half years.
Along with the city’s Imagine Urbana comprehensive plan, which outlines the city’s goals and vision for the city in the next 10 to 20 years that was adopted this past July, the initiative shows that significant focus is now on the area.
Urbana Community Development Coordinator Nick Olsen said in an email that the city has set aside at least $100,000 for future development in the area.
“A portion of the City’s [Community Development Block Grant] funds ($100,000) have been budgeted for economic development purposes over the next five years, but specific projects for use of these funds have not been identified at this time.”
Who owns Philo Road’s vacant properties?
County property records show a handful of corporate owners — several from out of town — control those vacant properties, raising questions about redevelopment and the future of one of Urbana’s busiest stretches of road.
At 1801 S. Philo Road, the Walgreens departure was part of a national corporate plan. In October 2024, former CEO Tim Wentworth announced the closures of 1,200 stores nationwide as part of its Footprint Optimization Program.
When asked by CU-CitizenAccess about the closure on Philo Road, a Walgreens spokesperson said in an email: “The reasons for closing a store are purely financial and based on each store’s performance. The process of evaluating our footprint is ongoing and evolving.”
Property records show Walgreen Co. remains the listed owner, and Kirsch Agency is marketing the building for lease online. The site has not reopened since closing on Jan. 21, 2025.
Just across the street, CVS shut its 1818 S. Philo Road location just four months later. When asked about the closure, the company stated in an email that it does not own the property but is trying to sublease the site. Public records show that CVS Health Corporation c/o Altus Group US Inc. as the owner.
CVS spokesperson Kara Page said the decision to close the store on Philo Road was influenced by “local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community.”
Coldwell Banker Commercial’s website lists the CVS property for lease.
Family Dollar at 1110 S. Philo Road closed in May 2025. County property records show the property is owned by Philo Road LLC, a Mattoon-based firm with a listed address at Kemper CPA Group’s Champaign location. But state records show two individuals in Dubai own Family Dollar.
Coldwell Banker Commercial also lists the property for lease on the Coldwell website.
A filing with the Illinois Secretary of State office lists two managers, Ahmed Abdelbari Mohamed Zubaidi and Khalid Abdelbari Abubakr Zubaidi, with an address in Mirdif, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The property’s registered agent, John A. Tilghman, is located in Mattoon.
Family Video at 1901 S. Philo Road closed in January 2021 as part of the national collapse of the video rental chain. Property records list Family Video Movie Club, based in Springfield, Illinois, as the owner.
The site is listed for lease through Legacy Commercial Property out of Brentwood, Tennessee. The registered agent for the property is C T Corporation System, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer, a multinational information services company based in the Netherlands with offices in Chicago. The building has remained vacant since the closure nearly five years ago.
A weathered “For Lease/Sale” sign outside of southeast Urbana’s vacant Family Video. Photo By Madyson Magnus.
The County Market at 1819 S. Philo Road closed nearly a decade ago. Unlike the other sites, it was purchased by Salt & Light, a nonprofit that continues to operate there.
Salt & Light also owns a small building in the same lot as the main site, which was formerly Exotic’s Smoke Shop, a tobacco shop that moved across the street in March 2024.
Crime frequency shaped public dismay of area
Crime and public safety are often cited in discussions on social media about the corridor.
“It used to be a safe place to shop and eat with family and friends years ago. Not anymore,” a community member wrote in a Facebook comment on WCIA’s page.
“High crime & repeat offenders!!!” another commenter said.
The Philo Road corridor generally refers to the stretch of Philo Road between Washington Street and Windsor Road, including nearby shopping centers and residential areas on Urbana’s southeast side.
Urbana Deputy Chief Zachary Mikalik, who oversees policing in the area, said that southeast Urbana is one of the city’s two most crime-ridden areas. While the now-closed Walgreens and CVS accounted for much of the retail theft and shoplifting on Philo Road, he said crime reports only capture part of the picture because not all incidents are reported by businesses.
Police records show how heavily crime clustered at those locations. Data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, covering January 2023 through June 2025, shows retail theft was the most common offense on Philo Road, with 101 cases.
The interactive map displays reported crimes along the Philo Road corridor between January 2023 and June 2025. Each point on the map represents one or more reported incidents, and the color intensity shows how concentrated crime is in that area. Darker or warmer colors indicate higher numbers of reports, while lighter shades show fewer.
There were 24 incidents in 2023 and 48 in 2024 for Walgreens, while CVS only reported two in 2023 and seven in 2024. Through June 1 of this year, Walgreens had no new reports as it closed in January, and CVS had one.
Overall, crime averaged 10 to 15 incidents a month, with a few spikes.
The 1800 block of Philo Road, which includes Sunnycrest Mall, Walgreens and CVS, saw 84 cases of retail theft. The 1100 block with Family Dollar had 12, the 1700 block that contains Burger King and the retail strip center had 4, and the 2600 block near Meijer had 1.
Unnati Narang, a professor at the University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business who studies retail and consumer behavior, said both crime rates and the perception of crime can affect how people use retail corridors.
“Even if actual crime isn’t high, the perception of danger alone can change consumer behavior,” Narang said in an email.
Narang also said safety concerns often carry as much weight as rent, traffic or competition, since lower sales and reduced customer engagement can quickly make a location unsustainable.
Urban planning scholars see corridors like Philo Road as part of a larger trend.
A 2019 study of mid-sized U.S. cities by Alex McKeag described the process as “slow decline” or “urban shrinkage.” The study found that when businesses close, vacancies often spread, creating cycles of disinvestment. Communities in other states have responded by rethinking land use, reducing infrastructure or temporarily repurposing empty lots.
Nathan Yang, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business, said in an interview the corridor could benefit from an establishment that serves as a community anchor rather than another retail chain.
“Something that could be of value is a new place to hang out, or a safe space, whether it’s an enclosed skate park or a [recreational] center,” Yang said.
Yang also noted that such a project would not require large recurring costs but could provide a lasting anchor if guided by what residents want most for their spare time.
The corridor remains caught between the possibility of revitalization and the reality of lingering vacancies, even as the City of Urbana continues to weigh redevelopment. The Community Development Commission will next meet on Tuesday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m.