Ownership questions stalling Mt. Prospect plaza's redevelopment

The nearly vacant Central Plaza shopping center in downtown Mount Prospect has been referred to as an "eyesore" by village leaders for years.

The site isn't likely to be improved, though, until the village can figure out who actually owns it.

Bill Cooney, Mount Prospect's community development director, said at an annual economic-development breakfast last week that the ownership of the center at Central Road and Route 83 is unclear. A bank is paying taxes on the property, he said, but the bank claims it's not the actual owner.

The village continues to try to straighten the matter out and get that site improved, Cooney said.

"My goal is that when I'm up here next year I'll be able to tell you that something different is happening with the property," he said.

The situation is frustrating for the village because Central Plaza sits at a visible and well-traveled intersection in a downtown that has seen a lot of redevelopment in the past 10 years.

A Downtown Implementation Plan accepted by the village board in 2013 said the Central Plaza site could be redeveloped with a one- or two-story commercial building, situated to take advantage of pedestrian traffic along both Central Road and Route 83. The plan suggests a building of roughly 12,000 square feet, something like "a small market or pharmacy."