A plan to build on the largest undeveloped parcel remaining in Lombard–land that was once part of Allerton Ridge Cemetery–is garnering the support of village officials.
Village trustees gave preliminary approval to a proposal from Mid-America Real Estate Corp. that involves commercial, office and possibly residential development on the 31-acre property near Highland Avenue and Butterfield Road.
The group is working with property owner Ed Heil, who bought the 51-acre cemetery in 1984 and years later had offered an unsuccessful plan for a convention center on the parcel.
In 1996, about 200 graves at the south end of the property were relocated, amid controversy and with village approval, into a 20-acre tract, so the site could be developed. In recent years, at least five proposals for development have been rejected by the village, according to David Hulseburg, community development director.
The current proposal calls for a planned development, and Mid-America intends to develop the property in a fashion similar to that of Lombard’s Fountain Square, which includes condominiums, hotels, stores and restaurants near Butterfield and Meyers Roads.
Hulseburg said approval of the planned development proposal would allow the property to be developed competitively with other parcels within the busy Butterfield Road corridor. Among the individual developments likely to be proposed within the overall development project are an apartment complex, a number of restaurants and offices, Hulseburg said. One prospective tenant, Sears Great Indoors, has expressed interest in the property.
