A Homewood investor has offered to take over a faltering retail plaza at 191st Street and La Grange Road, but village officials, noting the building’s checkered past, said they would carefully scrutinize the proposal before giving it the go-ahead.
Lee Anglin said last week that his Anglin Commercial Group wants to buy the commercial building in Hickory Creek Plaza at 19081 S. Old La Grange Rd., converting the space formerly occupied by a sports bar, a night club and an off-track betting parlor into a restaurant, game room, sports bar and performance space.
Some retail tenants, including a sporting-goods shop catering to children, are ready to sign a lease, he said.
But nightclubs have created problems in the space in the past, village officials said.
“I don’t want to see another Ground Zero, another Jungle,” Trustee Donald Labriola said, referring to previous ventures that went bust when the operators ran into financial and legal problems.
The off-track betting parlor moved out last year after the Jungle nightclub and the associated sports bar closed.
Anglin said a restaurant on the site would be a family-oriented steakhouse. The restaurant and an adjoining game room would be separated from a sports bar, he said.
The nightclub area would be open on special occasions as a venue for performances of music or comedy, said Anglin.
If the performance space idea doesn’t work out, the area could be remodeled for retail use, he said.
Trustees agreed the plan could help the area, but they wanted more details.