CHAMPAIGN — A new commercial development is in the works on the site of a former gas station on South Neil Street.

SARUS Developers of Champaign would like to build three one-story buildings on a strip of land east of Neil Street and the CN railroad tracks, just north of Arby's.

"I'm planning to make this a nice development with a prominent and elegant-looking frontage," said Sohail Chaudhry, who, along with his wife Aysha and son Salman Chaudhry, are behind SARUS.

The name they've chosen for the project is SARUS Galleria. The buildings' exteriors will be made of stucco and stone, with some pillars and awnings in the front.

The company purchased the north lot (2106 S. Neil St.) in 2003 followed by the south lot (2202 S. Neil St.). SARUS operated the Clark gas station there before closing it, cleaning the site and preparing it for development. SARUS recently received a "no further remediation" letter from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates remediation of old gas station sites, Chaudhry said.

"With the economy being slightly uncertain I'm hoping to go step-wise with this project," Chaudhry said. First, the northernmost building would be built. And development would follow after those spaces were filled.

Burch-Kiser Real Estate of Champaign is marketing the project to retail, service and small office businesses, he said.

"We've had some interest from businesses, but no contracts for the space have been signed yet," he said.

Planned for the north end of the site is an approximately 9,000-square-foot building that could contain up to six different commercial spaces.

Development on the south lot was limited due to the existing power lines there, but Chaudhry said he worked with Ameren on moving those and raising some guide wires, he said. That cleared the way for a second, smaller building in the middle of the site. It will be around 1,800 square feet and could hold one or two businesses.

The south building will be slightly less than 3,000 square feet.

There will be two entrances and exits to the development: one on the north end and one on the south end. A two-way lane will be in front of the building to the north. Most of the parking is proposed for the north and south ends of the project.

Once the city approves the project, construction could start by mid- to late August.

The project will go before the Champaign Zoning Board of Appeals and Plan Commission this month, and it may be presented to the Champaign City Council at its July 5 meeting.

The plan commission agenda item covers the platting of the south lot (that parcel has never been platted) and the ZBA hearing would be regarding a variation for the setback of the driveway and rearrangement of some landscaping, according to Kevin Phillips, zoning administrator with the city of Champaign.

"There's no place in town quite like this," Phillips said, referring to the narrow strip of land between the railroad tracks and the road.

"I think it'll be nice to have a contiguous strip of development there," he said.

SARUS also owns commercial property at 2107 W. Springfield Ave. near Country Fair and plans to renovate that building. The family company also worked on a redevelopment project in Milwaukee a few years ago.