Developer pitches plan for 68 homes, retail at Quentin-Route 22 in Lake Zurich
A tentative plan has been presented for construction of 68 single-family homes and a retail center at Quentin Road and Route 22 on Lake Zurich's east side.
Lake Zurich village board members provided an informal courtesy review for the idea at a meeting Monday night. They agreed there is enough potential to let the proposal enter the village's official approval process, but expressed concern the home lot sizes might not be big enough.
If built, the project on roughly 18 acres at the southwest corner of Route 22 and Quentin would be across the street from Mariano's Fresh Market and other businesses. Developer Patrick Taylor's Central One LLC is the contract purchaser of the land.
Under the preliminary concept plan, the 68 single-family houses would be clustered and average about 2,500 square feet on a 4,025-square-foot lot. Prices are tentatively pegged at $650,000 to $700,000.
Taylor said today's homebuyers are gravitating toward living on smaller properties.
“The homes aren't necessarily smaller,” Taylor said. “They're probably more efficient.”
Some Lake Zurich trustees were not convinced about the merits of smaller residential lots. Trustee Marc Spacone said he moved from Niles to Lake Zurich specifically for the chance to have more land.
“The only concern I have is the size of the (home) lots,” Spacone said.
Plans call for the retail component of the project to cover about 5 acres mostly facing Route 22. Possibilities for the property include a gasoline station, coffee shop or bakery and bank in an effort to draw morning commuters heading east toward I-94.
Brian Maude, manager of MBI Development in Barrington, would handle the retail end of the project. He said there is a lot of traffic heading on eastbound Route 22 and south on Quentin.
“This gas station here will be very convenient for both directions in the morning,” Maude said.
Lake Zurich trustees and Mayor Thomas Poynton also raised concern about the development adding to flooding problems in the Cedar Creek subdivision just south of Quentin and Route 22. Taylor responded that he's willing to meet with Cedar Creek residents in an effort to alleviate their concerns during the planning process.
Development plans have been popping up in one form or another lately in the Lake Zurich area.
Near Rand Road and Old Rand Road in Lake Zurich, developer John Alan Sfire's Fidelity Group intends to construct a 10,000-square-foot retail center, a gasoline station and a day-care operation near Rand and Old Rand roads.
To the south in Deer Park, land has been cleared to accommodate a 58,000-square-foot project in the Rand Road corridor that will have stores and restaurants off Rand Road and just south of the Town Center that put the village on the map.
Across the street on the east side of Rand Road in Kildeer, village board members in December are expected to consider final approval of a 180,000-square-foot, apparel-focused retail plaza where Lake Zurich Unit District 95's Charles Quentin Elementary School previously stood. That project is to be called Kildeer Village Square.