Morton Grove officials issued unanimous and enthusiastic approval at a recent Village Board meeting for a large scale mixed use development effectively ending a roughly two-year long approval and vetting process.
The board also unanimously approved an economic incentive agreement with the developer behind the project, Heartland Real Estate Partners-MG, LLC. The agreement calls for about $5 million in property tax rebates and up to $1 million in sales tax rebates to the developer. The development is expected to generate over $900,000 per year in property and sales tax revenue, according to village documents.
Tim Grogan of Heartland said his company plans to invest over $55 million in the project.
“It keeps going up,” he said. “When we started this, it was $43 million, but costs keep going up.”
He added that he and his partners are “committed to this” and “truly believe it will be the vehicle that changes the whole area around here.”
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The development will include a seven story 184-unit residential building and a roughly 14,000 square-foot single-story commercial building across a 2.8-acre site at 8700 Waukegan Road. The property is currently home to an aging office building.
In approving the project, the board also OKed several zoning waivers for the development, including allowing the developer to construct a residential building that exceeds the village’s maximum 40-foot height requirement by 37 feet, according to village documents. The development will also include 327 on-site parking spaces.
The first two floors of the residential building will house a parking garage and a lobby, the village’s community economic development director, Nancy Radzevich, told Pioneer Press last month. She said the third floor is expected to house three dozen apartments, a fitness and health center and patio area. The fourth, fifth, and sixth floor will also include apartments and the seventh floor will feature an open area with grills.
Retailers are expected set up shop in the adjacent commercial building which will also include 51 outdoor parking spaces for patrons and employees, and the plan additionally calls for another 57 outdoor parking spaces for residents and visitors.
“There’s a certain person in town who thinks for whatever reason he knows better than us … a certain person saying we’re giving away the village,” said trustee John Thill, citing an unnamed individual critical of the development project.
“We have been dealing with this for almost a year and a half and it’s finally coming to fruition. I think that this person should stop being a know-it-all and look into what we’re actually doing,” he said.
Residents of a condo building located to the south of 8700 Waukegan Road previously voiced concerns about the impact the development will have on parking and traffic in the area. The residents also said they were worried about light from the development streaming over onto their property and potential loss of privacy.
No trustees mentioned anything about traffic, parking or light pollution concerns at their last meeting on April 11.
Trustee Bill Grear said he knows that “change is scary” for some, but reassured the public that the development would only enhance the village.
“Dempster and Waukegan is as center of Morton Grove as possible. I feel for the people who are scared of change, but it’s going to be a good, good thing,” he said.
Trustee John Pietron said this type of development is the kind of project that prevents property taxes from going up in the village.
“In all honesty, people are not standing in line to develop here,” he said. “We have to work with these people and welcome them when they come.”
While Mayor Dan DiMaria acknowledged that $5 to $6 million in tax rebates is a hefty sum, he said the money was an important investment in the community, and one that would ultimately pay off.
“We’re going to fly a ‘W’ over village hall because this is a win for the village,” he said. “Anybody who says we’re spending or giving it away — that’s OK because they don’t understand it. They don’t grasp the concepts. This worked.”
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.