Glen Ellyn community members share thoughts on possible redevelopment

A couple of Glen Ellyn community members expressed their concerns Monday about the appearance and impact of the proposed redevelopment for the McChesney & Miller grocery store property.

The long-standing grocery store is set to close Oct. 4. Wheaton-based Next Generation Development is seeking to build a mixed-used development on the property, the adjacent Crescent Boulevard right-of-way and part of the village's Crescent/Glenwood parking lot.

Next Generation Development officials presented their proposal to the village board at a Monday workshop.

The proposed building would offer 180 residential apartments and around 5,000 square feet of retail space. As it was proposed at the workshop, the building would also contain one level of above-grade parking and some below-grade parking. Private and public parking would be available. Excluding the below-grade parking, the building would be six stories.

The developer is also seeking some financial incentives from the village for the project, including that the village provides the right-of-way and Crescent/Glenwood parking lot land at no cost, pays to replace a portion of the existing parking spaces on the property and provides about $1.75 million for utility relocation costs and environmental remediation.

Lee Marks, chairman of the village's Historic Preservation Commission, said he thought the proposed building was unattractive. He said Glen Ellyn's "historic charm" is one of the main attractions of the village.

"This building is totally unattractive in my opinion ... it looks like every condominium I've seen any place in the country," Marks said.

But Village President Alex Demos said the Monday presentation was conceptual in nature.

"I want to caution you that they're bringing this forward for us to consider this conceptually," Demos said.

He added Marks' comments would be more appropriate during the architectural review process, when the drawings presented would be more than conceptual.

Among his comments, Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mike Formento said the development should have at least 8,000 square feet of retail space.

"The location of the project is attractive since it becomes an anchor to the west end of the downtown area while not intruding on the current downtown character," Formento added. "At the same time, we believe the number of units should be scaled down to assist in relieving the bulk of the building and eliminating any tunnel effect on Pennsylvania Avenue."

"Naturally the architectural design has to be consistent and compatible with the historic nature of our downtown," he said.