When developer Jeff Budgell approached Elmhurst officials about turning an empty, dilapidated house and an adjacent weathered building on York Street into a fledging business venture in 1997, council members saw a key piece of a dreamed downtown expansion to North Avenue.
Since then, it has been a long road for Budgell, tweaking and re-tweaking blueprints to meet the city’s vision, at the same time making sure the proposed retail and office complex is in the best position to make money and draw patrons.
“I have spent a lot of money and a lot of time working on this parallel plan,” Budgell said, after the City Council recently turned down the second of his three proposals because it did not meet the city’s vision for a walking downtown.
Though the site plans and zoning were approved early last year, the redevelopment agreement has hit a snag.
The city wants the building parallel to York Street and Budgell wants guaranteed access to a parking lot in the back.
Budgell’s recent proposal would put the front facade perpendicular to the street and would give him a handshake agreement on access to the parking lot.
“This is very positive that we have somebody willing to spend a significant amount of money,” said Ald. Janice Vanek. “But it’s not the right plan. This decision is supported by the business community in Elmhurst.”
The uncomfortable scenario is faced by many developers who want to work with city planning officials but then must decide whether to head for the courts if an impasse occurs.
“There are times that I will tell the developer there is no way the development is going to get approved and the only way to get it done if they really want to spend the money, is going through the courts,” said Joseph Abel, a former director of planning and development for DuPage County, who now serves as a consultant to private and public developers. He is not associated with Budgell’s project.
“I think the developer has to be realistic also,” he said. “Almost anything you build today in DuPage County, you are doing fill projects” — developing the last remaining sites in a community that is built-out.
“You don’t have many cornfields left in DuPage County,” he said.
Budgell has been successful working with the city before, including a condominium project a few blocks away.
But the latest project has been in the works for four years.
He said he first thought of a strip mall, but it was not the architectural motif the city wanted for a walking downtown.
“This is a key property in building downtown and we want it the way we want it,” said Ald. John Gow, vice chairman of the city’s Development, Planning and Zoning Committee.
Budgell’s second proposal was the four-story retail and office complex. The city liked the idea but wanted the front facade parallel to York Street.
Budgell agreed but wanted York Street access to the parking lot.
The Lomnicki family, who owns Gentlemen’s Quarterly Formalwear next door, have an agreement with the city for public and private use of the parking lot, but that offers no guarantees. The city said it has worked out the parking issue by offering to buy the lot, but Elmhurst is in court fighting over a price, Mayor Thomas Marcucci said.
The city has offered Budgell a handshake agreement that it will buy the lot, Marcucci said. But Budgell is wary.
“We still don’t have permanent access,” Budgell said. “That access that is there could be taken away tomorrow if the people that own [the lot] decide to … make it private or build on it. If it’s so certain, then sign the agreement and put it in writing.”
Council members say they believe discussions on Budgell’s $5 million 25,000-square-foot project have stalled.
“I imagine that [the developer] probably plans on suing us,” said Marcucci. “At the end of the day, as long as we make a sound decision then we should have nothing to worry about.”
