District 200 finds buyer for Hubble site

Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 finally has found a buyer for the old Hubble Middle School site near downtown Wheaton.

In a short news release Tuesday, school officials said they reached a tentative agreement on the sale of the property at the corner of Naperville and Roosevelt roads to Chicago-based Bradford Equities, LLC. Officials said the school board expects to approve the deal, which meets a minimum price of $5 million, on Thursday at a special meeting.

Board President Rosemary Swanson said there is a sense of relief that the long-awaited sale appears to be on the horizon.

“It would be premature to go into details (but) it is great to be at this point in the journey,” she said. “I feel this offer we are bringing forward is meeting all of the promises we have made to the community.”

School officials said the sale will achieve three goals they have had since they first placed the site up for auction in February: it will return a portion of the property to the tax rolls, help the district pay down some debt and preserve green space on the site for public use.

Officials would not say whether that last goal means Wheaton Park District is part of the tentative agreement. Park officials have been worried they will lose what they have estimated to be about 94,000 user hours per year on the site’s ball fields and the gymnasiums in the old building if a private developer does not work with them.

“If it wasn’t going to be us, we’re glad it was Bradford,” park board President Ray Morrill said. “We will work together for the common good and that’s my hope, my desire and my expectation.”

Park officials last month announced they had entered into an agreement with Bradford that would bring a Mariano’s Fresh Market grocery store to the site, provided the park district could buy the land from the school district.

Because the latest offer is independent of the park district, it remains unclear if that deal still stands. But Morrill and board member Phil Luetkehans both said they believe it does and Morrill said the park district would contact Bradford once the sale gets approved.

A spokesman for Bradford withheld comment until the tentative deal is made official. On its website, the company announces a Mariano’s grand opening in Vernon Hills and the start of construction at a second Mariano’s site in Palatine.

Last fall, a steering committee put forth two recommendations for the 22-acre Hubble site: a mixed-use option and a recreational use option. Thirteen of the parcel’s acres are on a flood plain and cannot support development.

The school district opted for mixed use and, after an aggressive push by the park district to acquire the property or receive the right of first refusal, put the site on the market in February.

After a 60-day, sealed-bid auction failed to garner any bids with a $10 million minimum bid, the school district turned to a live auction and reduced the minimum bid to $5 million.

But that May 16 auction also received zero bids and opened the door for the park district’s partnership with Bradford, which resulted in a $2 million offer. However, three other offers also were made, including Bradford’s apparent winning bid.

By law, private developers still had to adhere to the $5 million figure but because the park district is also a government entity, it did not have to follow the same restriction.

Wheaton Mayor Mike Gresk, who has consistently backed the school district’s plans to sell the property to a private developer, said he was excited to see movement on the deal.

“I’m pleased that the school district stuck to its guns and fulfilled the promise they made to their constituents in District 200,” he said. “I’m pleased they were able to execute their plan.”

Swanson said she looked forward to when the property is placed on the city and school district tax rolls.

“We are not only pleased, but we are also excited about the potential redevelopment this property might offer in the future,” Swanson said.