At least 200 Northbrook residents, by the village’s count, attended the July 14 Village Board meeting to oppose a developer’s plan to tear down the Meadow Plaza Shopping Center near downtown Northbrook and build six-story condominium buildings on the site.
The proposal was not on the July 14 meeting agenda, but about 25 residents used the public comment portion of the meeting to voice their concerns and objections, speaking for a large portion of the two-hour meeting. One official responded that it’s still very early in the village’s review process and the village would be transparent as it moves forward, but cautioned that Meadow Plaza’s private owners have the right to sell to a buyer of their choice.
The prospective buyer, Pulte Homes Group, a residential construction company, introduced a preliminary review to the Village Board in May. Northbrook’s Village Board allows parties to float proposals to them at their meetings when those proposals are still in the idea stage, so that developers don’t spend substantial money pursuing non-viable ideas, Village President Kathryn Ciesla explained at the meeting.
Pulte’s proposal would replace Meadow Plaza Shopping Center at 1901 Cherry Lane with three six-story condominium buildings containing two-bedroom and three-bedroom units, two commercial parcels and a public riverwalk, according to the Village website. Each building would contain 50 residences, for a total of 150.
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The village’s website reported that in the proposal sent to the Board, the developer shared that the market-rate price per unit would be between $600,000 and $1 million.
Meadow Plaza Shopping Center, which first opened in 1959, has long served as a neighborhood go-to spot for daily necessities. It includes independent coffee shop Bean Bar, an Ace Hardware store, a shoe repair shop, dry cleaner, Dollar Tree store, Advance Auto Parts store and other businesses. The plaza also hosts the Northbrook Farmers Market every Wednesday from mid-June through mid-October.
Susan Nelson, who said she has been a resident of Northbrook for more than 35 years, told Pioneer Press she started organizing against the proposal with other residents after seeing discussions on neighborhood social media platform Nextdoor. Nelson was among other residents who spoke in opposition to the development at the Board meeting this week.
“Community is more than real estate,” said Nelson in an interview. “This is a place where kids ride their bicycles, people shop locally and people socialize.”
Nelson said she reserved a room at the Northbrook Public Library on June 30 , inviting other residents who had posted to social media to join in organizing against the proposal. Around 70 residents joined the meeting, she said. Since then, community members have been distributing flyers and keeping tabs on Village Board updates on the project. Four weeks ago, a Northbrook resident also started a Change.org petition, which has since collected more than 3,500 signatures.
While many residents spoke about the plaza needing revitalization, some of the concerns raised to the Village Board about the development included the removal of longtime businesses, the proposed six-story height of condo buildings, an increase in density and potential impacts to traffic and schools in the area.
Joan Rowell, who said she has lived across the street from the plaza for 15 years, spoke in the public comment portion of the meeting and suggested reducing the height of the condominiums to three stories and having a mix of condominiums and shops.
“I totally feel that Meadow Shopping Center needs an uplift, but six stories – what are you, nuts?” she said.
In addition to concerns about the size and scale of the development, most residents shared concerns about the impact to local businesses that have been in the shopping center for decades.
Bill Schloss said he has owned a business just outside of the shopping plaza for 25 years and has been a resident for 36 years. Though he believes the shopping center needs to be revamped, he explained he worries about what this project could do to the businesses that remain.
“One business owner said she might be forced to close up entirely because the cost and everything to move is just overwhelming,” said Schloss. “And these are people that have been there for years, and are mostly Northbrook residents as well.”
Village Board President Kathryn Ciesla explained the proposal is still within the early stages of the Village’s review process and that the developer has not submitted a formal application.
During the meeting, Ciesla and Board Trustee Tamara Reese told residents the demolition and re-development of the shopping center is a likely reality because the private owner has the right to sell the site and intends to do so. However, Reese said the Board will use the review process and feedback from the community to influence what the development becomes to the extent of what they can do within their authority.
“The proposed private Meadow Plaza redevelopment is still in the early stages of the village’s review process, and while the village has received a Preliminary Review Application, no formal development application has been submitted for review by the village,” a Village of Northbrook spokesperson stated in an email to the Pioneer Press. “As with any privately owned property, the village’s role is to review the proposal for compliance with applicable regulations, and we are committed to keeping the public informed throughout the process.”
Meadow Plaza has been privately owned by a trust for several decades, as outlined on the Village website. The property has also been listed for sale multiple times over the last five to 10 years, with the property being marketed for sale again in 2024.
“We know that this property is going to be sold, either to this developer or somebody else and it’s going to be substantially changed,” Ciesla said in the Board meeting. “None of those bidders for the property, I understand, wanted to improve the retail.
“What we can assure residents right now is that when a formal proposal is submitted, the process will be public, transparent and thorough,” Ciesla said.
“Any proposal will go through the village’s established review process, information will be publicly available, meetings are going to be open to the public. We will expect and require the developer to engage with members of the community and residents will have multiple opportunities to ask questions, provide feedback and share their perspectives.”