What does a redeveloped Northbrook Court look like to you? Trendy restaurants? Walking paths? Trees? Outdoor live music? Maybe like, say, Oakbrook Center in west suburban Oak Brook?
At Northbrook Village Hall on April 25, Brookfield Properties, operators of Northbrook Court, revealed drawings and possibilities of how Northbrook Court’s estimated 100 acres could evolve over the next decade.
“I have been kind of on the edge of my seat, excited to talk about this,” said Northbrook Village President Kathryn L. Ciesla during the Tuesday evening Board of Trustees meeting.
“This is really an opportunity for Brookfield to tell us what they have in mind,” Ciesla said of the boardroom presentation. “This is the start of the conversation. Everybody needs a seat at the table so we can work through this together.”
Ciesla said Northbrook Court, as a regional shopping mall, is now, “functionally obsolete, perhaps on life support,” adding Northbrook Court is, “something that needs to change.”
The long awaited presentation by Brookfield Properties, which has represented the mall since 1995, came after several requests (approved by the village) for extensions of time on its redevelopment pitch.
More Top Picks Best Cribs
In 2019, the village board launched a redevelopment and economic incentive agreement with Brookfield Properties as a public-private partnership, approving the redevelopment of nearly 18 acres.
Reworking what is known as the Macy’s land portion was supposed to begin in spring of 2020 but the March 2020 COVID-19 pandemic shutdown stalled the project.
Beyond pop-up drive-through holiday light shows and even Northbrook Days held in recent years in the west parking lot, Brookfield Properties and the village wish to now address all of Northbrook Court’s acreage as a retail/dining/residency multigenerational community.
“It’s so important to make certain that we do everything in our power to help Northbrook Court be reimagined for the next 50 years,” Ciesla said. “We need to review this in a holistic way.”
At the podium, Ben Freeman, senior vice president of development at Brookfield Properties, described a walkable, mixed use plan which includes housing, restaurants and shopping amid green space.
“The concept plans presented represent a new and exciting path forward for Northbrook Court and the surrounding community,” Freeman said to Pioneer Press. “We have been, and will continue to work on a comprehensive redevelopment intended to revitalize Northbrook Court for the next generation.
“This is a complex undertaking, and Brookfield Properties is committed to engaging thoughtfully and thoroughly with the board and community members to move forward with this process,” Freeman said.
“We appreciate the village’s continued partnership and remain committed to this integral property.”
To trustees, Freeman, describing a trend, said, “Americans are spending more money at restaurants than they are on groceries and the trend is only accelerating.”
The proposed master plan, done in phases over the decade, would include potentially razing current buildings, like the large wing where the movie theater is (suggested for last phase).
Up to 2,000 homes would include apartments, townhomes, condominiums and 55 plus senior living, with many residences built over the former Macy’s site.
“There are almost 5,000 parking spaces at the current Northbrook Court,” Ciesla said. “So I do have to say without question, it will be nice to put in some green elements and eliminate that concrete jungle.”
Brookfield Properties would not offer its projected monetary investment of what it would take to redevelop Northbrook Court in phases over 10 years. There is a TIF, tax increment financing district in place, passed unanimously by the board of trustees in January 2019.
This TIF covers the Northbrook Court 1515 Lake Cook Road address portion on the west end of the Northbrook Court shopping center, along the south side of Lake Cook Road at Red Oak Lane. TIF districts, designed to spur economic development, last up to 23 years.
TIF districts are common in Chicago and for development of The Glen in Glenview, for example. The Glen’s TIF district formally concluded on Dec. 31, 2021.
Critics of TIF models charge that TIF districts can become generous subsidies that benefit developers as the life span of the TIF matures amid fluctuating economics at the expense of municipalities.
With the TIF clock ticking for that western land portion, and with talk of redevelopment elsewhere over Northbrook Court acreage outside of the current TIF district, village officials hope to accelerate sales tax captures as soon as possible with the build out of tax generating retail.
Northbrook Court opened in 1976 and according to an April 25 village memo, “In the past decade, foot traffic has declined.
“The village sales tax collections have been reduced with our most recent data showing the village received a total of $3.8 million in 2017 and $2.9 million in 2021,” the memo further states.
Ciesla said from the dais, “The sales tax that we receive is critical to our success.
“Northbrook Court is our largest sales tax generator and without Northbrook Court, that would be a hardship for us.”
The village plans to launch a website link dedicated to Northbrook Court for community input and updates. For next steps, it is possible the village will adopt a nonbinding predevelopment agreement leading to formal agreements as master conceptual plan talks evolve this year.
In the boardroom audience was Kathi Quinn, Northbrook Chamber of Commerce and Industry executive director, who said to Pioneer Press that Northbrook Court has the potential of, “being its own little community, if you will, which I think is kind of exciting.
“It’s kind of the wave of the future of retail,” Quinn said.
More Top Picks Best Raclette Grills For Parties
“It’s something new and different.”
To Pioneer Press, Ciesla said, “This is the start of a new conversation with Northbrook stakeholders and Brookfield Properties that we hope will lead to the replacement of very-large concrete parking lots with a new retail experience and a new residential neighborhood that retains and enhances the character of the community.”
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.