The Mt. Prospect Village Board on Tuesday night authorized negotiations to begin with Town Centre LLC for Phase I of the village’s downtown redevelopment project.
The board also authorized village staff to negotiate to buy land in the heart of the Phase I redevelopment area, bounded by Northwest Highway, Central Road and Wille and Main Streets.
The property to be pursued is a vacant lot at 3 S. Wille St. The ordinance authorizing the negotiations, to come back for a final vote in two weeks, also authorizes the village to begin condemnation proceedings if a purchase cannot be negotiated.
However, Village Manager Michael Janonis said, the village has reached a tentative purchase agreement with the property owner.
The Town Centre plan was submitted by a development team consisting of HKM Architects & Planners, Norwood Builders, A&T Investments and Trapani Construction.
The village had received two proposals, but the second–by the Ben-Cor Group–was withdrawn by the developer. Still, Mayor Gerald Farley stressed Tuesday’s action didn’t commit the village to an agreement with Town Centre LLC.
The Town Centre plan proposes three condominium buildings, five to eight stories tall, laid out in a horseshoe pattern; and the redevelopment of the downtown “Triangle” bounded by Northwest Highway, Main Street and Busse Avenue.
The plan leaves intact the retail strip along Busse, dubbed “Preservation Row” because of its more traditional commercial buildings, but would add some new retail space at one end.
