Wheeling trustees criticize Dunhurst Plaza landlord

When village officials announced recently that Aldi is closing its Wheeling discount food store after it was unsuccessful in negotiating a lease extension with a shopping center's owner, trustees blamed the landlord.

“We can't be held hostage by a shopping center that looks just average,” said Wheeling Trustee Ray Lang, referring to Dunhurst Plaza on the southwest corner of Dundee and Elmhurst roads.

“It looks old, no question,” said Mark Janeck, community development director. “There are definitely parts of our building code he could be following better.”

When Aldi closes July 31, it won't be the only vacancy in the center. IF Furniture closed about six months ago.

Among trustees' complaints are the center's parking lot, which they say needs to be repaved.

“He needs to keep his property up to par whether he has tenants or not,” Janeck said.

The village attempted to mediate between Fred Linsky, vice president of Northbrook-based Dunhurst Realty Corp., and Aldi, but they couldn't reach an agreement. Linsky didn't return phone calls and an Aldi official would not comment in detail.

But Peter Valopalas, Wheeling's director of economic development, said the closing has more to do with the store's location than the relationship between landlord and tenant.

He said Aldi, which has had a store in Wheeling for several decades, was looking for a location farther east of its stores in Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect and Prospect Heights. All those locations are within 10 miles of Dunhurst Plaza. The village has been trying to interest Aldi in alternative locations farther east.

Village board members aren't the only ones unhappy with Linsky. Reconstruction General Contractors, which owns adjoining land, say they are frustrated as well. Linsky's parking lots surround their 13,125-square-foot parcel, which also is flanked by Dundee and Elmhurst roads.

They had hoped to build a carwash on the site, but because the property is so close to the intersection, the village won't grant direct road access. And Linsky has been unwilling to grant access through the parking lots on his property.

According to Valopalas, Linsky said he doesn't want anything built on the site that would block the view of his shopping center from the intersection.

At the July 18 village board meeting, Reconstruction General Contractors came before trustees for the third time since they bought the property at auction in January. And their request to build the “green” carwash on the corner was turned down yet again by a unanimous board vote

“We have been told that if we can get any sort of access through his lot it would be a go,” said Scott Weizman, managing partner of Reconstruction General Contractors. “He's actually a very nice man. He's just not willing to do anything.”