Mundelein officials close to downtown development deal

Mundelein officials are close to inking a roughly $10 million redevelopment deal that, in part, calls for the construction of a new village hall.

The proposed agreement with Weston Solutions would result in a new village hall, retail and office buildings and apartments or condominiums being built on village-owned land south of Hawley Street and east of Seymour Avenue, near the Metra commuter train station.

The site long has been eyed for redevelopment and has been considered central to village leaders' downtown plans.

“It's less about a new village hall and more about economic development in downtown Mundelein,” Village Administrator John Lobaito said Monday.

If the deal moves forward, the new municipal building will be constructed without the need for a property-tax increase, Lobaito said. Revenue will come from an anticipated loan, money that's been accumulating in a special tax fund for the area and from other sources.

Weston Solutions will kick in, too. The company plans to relocate from an office in Vernon Hills to 15,000 square feet on the second floor of the proposed Mundelein village hall building and will pay rent for the space, Lobaito said.

Without that financial partnership, village officials would need a tax-rate increase to build a new village hall, Lobaito said. Mundelein and Weston are “stepping off the curb together,” he said.

Lobaito called the proposal exciting.

“We see it as a game change for the downtown,” he said.

Design work could start this spring. Building construction could start in early 2013, Lobaito said.

The village board voted last week to authorize staffers to prepare an ordinance that covers the development agreement with Weston.

The measure passed 4-2. Trustees Terri Voss and Robin Meier opposed the plan.

The board could vote on the ordinance Monday, March 26.