Meeting recently as the Committee of the Whole, Vernon Hills village trustees received a proposal for a luxury senior living facility that would be located in the Hawthorn Mall area.
Officials from Centennial Real Estate, which owns Hawthorn Mall, in a partnership with USAA Real Estate and Integrated Development II, were at the Oct. 5 committee meeting to present the plans.
Specifically, the plan calls for 82 independent units, 60 assisted living units and 20 memory care units, officials at the meeting said. The proposal also includes a two-story plaza that officials hope mall patrons would be able to use.
Jim Moyer, principal at SAS Architects and Planners LLC, said at the meeting that the developers want the new facility to be part of the redevelopment of Hawthorn Mall. Another representative said the redevelopment was one of the things that drew the real estate company to the site.
Some trustees said they were concerned with the proposed height of the building, which would be 30 feet taller than the 45-feet Hawthorn Row collection of buildings that are part of the mall redevelopment.
Trustee Thom Koch suggested that Centennial look to reduce its proposed senior living building by at least one floor.
“I get the skyline effect, but we’re not a city,” said Trustee Craig Takaoka.
Mayor Roger Byrne said he supported senior residence project.
“Welcome to Vernon Hills,” he said. “I think it’ll be a great project and great addition.”
The next step for the proposal would be a more detailed review of the project by village staff.
Before the Committee of the Whole meeting, the trustees held their regular board meeting where they discussed upcoming village events and recognized the Park District for winning a national award.
Vernon Hills Park District was recognized during the regular Village Board meeting for winning a gold medal award from the National Recreation and Park Association. Park District officials showed board members a video that had been included in the application for the award.
Park District Executive Director Jeff Fougerousse said the district stressed its intergovernmental agreements to help put the district over the top. In 2019 and 2020, the district was a finalist for the award, he said.
“The National Gold Medal Award is the highest award that any parks and recreation agency in the country can receive,” Fougerousse said. “It’s certainly a tribute to our staff, our board, our community.”
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Trustees congratulated the Park District for the win and thanked the workers for their contributions to the village. Trustee Michael Schenk said the district was “one of the pillars in our community.”
“You guys work extremely hard, you have a great team,” Schenk said. “It’s one of the reasons my family and I decided to settle here. The parks are just top-notch.”
Also during the meeting, trustees discussed Halloween hours. 2021, which falls on a Sunday this year. Trick-or-treating on Halloween, which falls on a Sunday this year, will run 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Police Chief Patrick Kreis said he believes that time period works this year since Halloween falls on the weekend.
Kreis also recommended that, going forward, the board set trick-or-treating hours to be on the weekend before Halloween if it falls on a weekday. This would keep it as a weekend afternoon outing for the families, while keeping children safer, he said.
“This makes this a family-oriented event for the children that are trick-or-treating,” he said. “This is becoming a real popular thing.”
The Holiday Tree and Menorah Lighting event, which is an annual event held by the village to kick off the holidays, will be held Nov. 27 at the Vernon Hills Golf Course. Officials said this year’s event will be more of a return to normal, with a community gathering.
Last year’s tree lighting looked a little different due to the coronavirus pandemic. What is typically a community gathering with hot chocolate and cider, last year had a vehicle escort of Santa Claus on a Countryside Fire Protection District fire truck. Santa met up with the mayor after cruising through the village’s neighborhoods to help light the tree.
Assistant Village Manager Jon Petrillo said there are plans in the works to have a Santa escort again, but St. Nick will go straight to the golf course this year. The goal is to also have Santa be available for photos at the tree lighting, Petrillo said.
“Last year was atypical,” Petrillo said at the meeting.” (Stakeholders) believe returning to our traditional assembly … would be an opportunity to reconnect and celebrate together.”