One year after Urbana launched an effort to revitalize the Philo Road corridor, city officials say new investments are beginning to take shape — but property restrictions have prevented a pharmacy from opening to serve residents’ health care needs.

Urbana residents have repeatedly told the city they need a pharmacy after two in the area closed, city officials said.

Urbana Community Development Director Olivia Jovine said the city spent months working with a community pharmacy and Salt & Light to bring a pharmacy back to the Philo Road area.

The effort ultimately fell through after officials learned that restrictive covenants associated with the former Walgreens property prevent another pharmacy from operating on much of the block between Florida and Colorado avenues.

In property law, a covenant is a formal agreement or promise, typically included in a deed, to do or not do a particular act, according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.

“Although Walgreens has vacated the area and is no longer doing business there, they still have control over that property,” Jovine said.

The restriction comes from a 2007 amended agreement covering several properties in the Sunnycrest development. Under the agreement, as long as a specified lot remains under a valid lease with Walgreens, or is owned by Walgreens, several surrounding properties cannot be used for a drugstore, prescription pharmacy or another business that dispenses medication for a fee. 

The agreement also restricts other uses on those properties, including the sale of health and beauty products, alcohol for off-site consumption, photo services, greeting cards and giftwrap and food for consumption off the premises.

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 Mayor DeShawn Williams said in an interview the covenant has complicated the city’s efforts to bring a pharmacy back to the area, but he remains committed to finding another path forward. 

“It’s unfortunate. It’s one of those things where we hear big companies and organizations say that they’re wanting to be a certain thing for community members and then it comes down to a point where you have to put the action behind those words, and unfortunately we’ve seen something different.

“Did that provide a detour? Yes. Does it stop the plans? Absolutely not. We have to go back to the drawing board but I will see the vision through.”

Claudia Lennhoff, executive director of Champaign County Health Care Consumers, was critical of Walgreens for maintaining the restriction after closing its Philo Road store.

“It’s reprehensible that they’re going to continue to enforce the restrictive covenant when they have abandoned that part of the community,” Lennhoff said. “I don’t think that a small locally-based pharmacy is going to put Walgreens at a competitive disadvantage. So it’s very shameful that they are doing this. They’re standing in the way of being able to bring a pharmacy to that area is really hurting some of the most vulnerable people in our community.” 

Walgreens closed its store at 1801 S. Philo Road in January 2025. CVS, located across the street, followed in May, leaving the area without the two pharmacies that had previously served the corridor.

The need for a pharmacy, Jovine said, has repeatedly emerged through outreach conducted by city staff, particularly because of the area’s senior population.

“Investing in amenities and resources that the population needs is ultimately our goal,” Jovine said. “We know for a fact that the senior population on Philo Road is missing a pharmacy.” 

The closures were among at least six major business departures along Philo Road since 2016 and helped prompt Urbana to launch its Philo Road Ahead initiative last year, an effort focused on redevelopment of the corridor and surrounding neighborhoods.

Jovine said the failed pharmacy effort demonstrates some of the limits the city faces as it tries to encourage redevelopment along a corridor where much of the property remains privately owned.

“We don’t control any of the properties except for the old fire station location,” Jovine said.

Five apartment properties near Silver and Water streets are being renovated under new ownership, the city is developing a $50,000 matching-grant program for improvements in the area and a new Community Engagement and Violence Prevention Center opened this month at Sunnycrest Mall.

Pharmacy gap creates barriers for vulnerable residents

Lennhoff said the loss of nearby pharmacies is particularly difficult for people with fewer transportation and financial options. Lennhoff has worked for the nonprofit organization for nearly 30 years, where its services include helping people access health insurance, public benefits and health care.

“I would consider the people who are low-income and who have limited transportation options to be the most vulnerable,” Lennhoff said. “And a lot of the people in that area who are low-income are individuals who are elderly and or disabled.”

For people without a vehicle, reaching another pharmacy can mean paying for an Uber or taking a longer bus trip that may require transfers, she said. Those trips can become more difficult for people with health conditions, particularly during extreme weather.

“Maybe they have COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or asthma, you know, respiratory conditions that really affect their well-being when they’re out in hot humid weather, for example, waiting for a bus, then waiting for the transfer to the next bus,” Lennhoff said.

Distance is not the only limitation. Lennhoff said insurance plans can also determine where someone can have a prescription filled and interfere with how consistently people receive medications:

“The other thing is that not everybody’s insurance works at every single pharmacy. Even some of the folks who might be able to go to Meijer, even though it’s a bit further away for them, it doesn’t mean that their insurance is going to work for them over there. People might not be able to get their prescriptions filled or picked up on a timely basis so they might experience a gap in their medications that they’re taking, which can really be a problem, especially for medications that need to be taken every day.”