Buffalo Grove village trustees have set in motion a plan to redevelop the Buffalo Grove Town Center into a regional destination that is expected to include restaurants, retail, a park and luxury apartments.
On a vote of 6-0 at the Nov. 1 Village Board meeting, trustees approved a memorandum of understanding with Kensington Development Group LLC for the redevelopment of the Town Center property and referred development plans to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The approval allows the developer to begin negotiating a contract with the village and working with the commission in finalizing building plans and acquiring permits for the estimated $150 million project.
“This is an exciting moment. The redevelopment of the Town Center property has long been identified as a high priority of the village,” said Christopher Stilling, deputy village manager.
He explained that residents also indicated their desire for redevelopment in a survey.
“In 2018, the Village Board adopted the Lake Cook Corridor plan, laying the foundation for reinvestment … and approved the Lake Cook Road TIF district,” he said.
Village officials and developers agreed the tax increment financing district is what laid the groundwork for attracting the developer, spurring redevelopment plans for the 20-acre site at the bustling intersection of Lake Cook and McHenry roads.
Considered the single largest redevelopment in the village’s history, according to village leaders, the project has been in the planning stages for more than three years. In that time, village staff has been working closely with developers to create a vision for the site, which has been occupied by a failing 30-year-old shopping center.
Jay Eck, principal and managing director at Kensington Development Partners, said during his presentation to the board during the meeting that the site “never met its promise.”
Development plans include a “state-of-the-art grocery store” as anchor tenant, Eck said,
He said he expects it would be the lifeblood for generating traffic to the site, and also be positioned to support a planned seven-story, 283-unit luxury apartment building.
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Developers plan to complement the site with restaurants, both sit-down and quick service, and other retail services such as coffee shops, wine bars, nail salons and hair salons. About 20,000 square feet of retail space will be available on the ground floor of the apartment building as well as around the site, according to project plans.
Developers also want to use the 6 acres of Village Green as a central park to host community and movies in the park events.
“We’ll create the downtown environment Buffalo Grove does not have,” said John Schoditsch, principal at Kensington Development Partners.
He said some of the existing tenants on the property will be relocated to new spaces in the redevelopment since plans are to demolish the existing buildings on the site beginning next summer.
Bob Burk, managing partner of the Urban Street Group, has partnered with Kensington Development Partners in the creation of the luxury apartments.
“Our building will accommodate 283 residential units and 500 parking spaces,” Burk told the board. “We have to look at how it integrates into the site, how units interact with the park and for us. What you’re seeing is an evolutionary process with your staff and our architects.”
He said the building will allow for retail space on the first floor and will thrive on that proximity to retail.
“Our buildings feel like hotels,” Burk said, “not the apartment buildings of our youth. They’re highly amenitized.”
Both Trustee Eric Smith and Joanne Johnson emphasized that the village is not footing the bill for the project.
“The village has no financial risk, the money the village is investing is derived exclusively from the property tax revenue generated by the Lake Cook TIF District and the sales tax-sharing in the future,” Johnson said. “The village of Buffalo Grove is incentivizing this deal to redevelop the Town Center property.
She said property tax bills would not be affected.
Stilling also reinforced that message.
“This is pay as you go. We don’t write a check, the developer is assuming all of the risk,” Stilling said.
Village President Beverly Sussman said she has repeatedly heard from constituents about the Town Center.
“In my first election 13 years ago, people asked, ‘What are you doing about the town center.’ Ever since then, I’m asked that question all the time,” Sussman said. “It’s a wonderful feeling we are trying to do something about the Town Center right now.”
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.