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$500,000+ single-family homes now pitched for Lake Zurich waterfront

Single-family houses starting at $500,000 are part of a new plan for taxpayer-owned waterfront property in downtown Lake Zurich.

At play is a nearly 2-acre site the village purchased for $3.6 million as part of a long-stalled attempt to revitalize downtown. In 2013, village trustees rejected a developer's offer to buy the land for $10 as part of an apartment complex proposal.

Village officials are expected to host a courtesy review for the latest plan Monday night. Libertyville-based StreetScape Development LLC wants to build 17 homes on the village-owned parcel across from the waterfront area called the Promenade.

In an announcement Wednesday, Lake Zurich officials said the waterfront houses would cost $500,000 to $700,000. Amenities would include front porches or rooftop decks to take advantage of the lake view.

Mayor Thomas Poynton said the proposal is appealing because it would not be apartments. The diversity of architecture and "small-town look" of the houses would be other positives, he said.

"An opportunity to put these properties back on the tax rolls," Poynton said of the proposal, "thus increasing our ability to pay off the heritage debt strangling any downtown development."

StreetScape owner John McLinden couldn't be reached for comment.

Earlier this year, Pennsylvania-based Toll Brothers Inc. received exclusive rights to develop a residential plan for the site but never entered the village's formal approval process. Last year, Harbour Contractors Inc. of Plainfield decided against proceeding with an apartment project for the land.

In October 2013, Lake Zurich's elected officials rejected developer John Breugelmans' offer to pay $10 for the $3.6 million property after he had an exclusive period to create a plan. Breugelmans had wanted to build a four-story building with 66 apartments that later would have been converted into condominiums, along with a restaurant, bar, coffee shop and hair salon.

StreetScape is known for a development in Libertyville that incorporates the vacant Central School. The company developed the old brick building into 15 loft units as a focal point of the nationally recognized School Street project, which also features 26 single-family homes in a compact "front-porch revival," urban-style neighborhood.

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  A new proposal for the village-owned property across from Lake Zurich's Promenade calls for 17 single-family homes priced at $500,000 and up. Bob Susnjara/bsusnjara@dailyherald.com
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