The Palatine Village Council has unanimously approved a pre-development agreement with a Wheeling-based developer to bring a three- or four-story office building, a retail center, town homes, condominiums and a garage to the village’s downtown.
Joseph Freed & Associates will begin engineering and soil studies for the project immediately. Meanwhile, village staff members and Freed will negotiate a final plan agreement, which could be presented to the Village Council in March.
If a deal is not reached, the village, under the pre-agreement, would reimburse Freed and Associates $300,000 through the downtown tax-increment financing (TIF) district.
“We’re streamlining the process,” Palatine Village Manager Michael Cassady said.
Freed & Associates wants to build a 100,000-square-foot office building and other projects on 15 acres near the new train station, scheduled to open this spring. The company would relocate its headquarters, with 125 employees, to Palatine.
The project is estimated to cost $50 million to $70 million. A portion of the project would be covered by funds generated by the downtown TIF district.
Construction could begin as soon as April, Cassady said.
In other action, the council unanimously denied a request by a Palatine developer who is seeking to renovate a building that once housed a troubled nightclub for teens.
DiMucci Properties wanted to remodel the former Club Xsite building in the Northwest Shopping Center, 555 Dundee Rd.
But the Council two years ago approved a shopping center renovation that called for destruction of the former club building because village leaders considered it blighted.
“The building will be leveled,” Cassady said.
The council also deferred a decision to village staff members on whether to change the date and location of the village’s Farmer’s Market.
The council wavered on whether to move the market to the new train station and hold it on Saturdays. The market is held every Thursday at Palatine and Bothwell Roads.
Some council members said construction near the new train station this year would interfere with the market.
“I’m not opposed to moving the market, I’m opposed to moving it now,” Council Member Jim Wilson said.
Village staff members are expected to make a decision shortly. The committee also unanimously recommended that the Village Council require overweight and oversize trucks to obtain a permit before driving through Palatine.
Staff members said the permit system will help control the routes trucks take through the village, Cassady said.
Under the ordinance, truckers must contact the village and obtain a permit before driving through village streets. Permits will cost somewhere between $15 and $100 for a single trip.
