Approval of secretary of state facility move to Lake Zurich expected this week
The last step in a review process to move an Illinois secretary of state's driver's service facility from its longtime home in Libertyville to Lake Zurich is expected to conclude this week.
An expected approval by the agency's real estate advisory panel would clear the way for architectural and other plans to be examined by Lake Zurich in advance of construction planned for September.
"We are very positive. I'd be shocked if it didn't move forward," said Jason Sfire, vice president of the Fidelity Group Ltd., the Lake Zurich-based company that owns the Deerpath Commons shopping center on Rand Road (Route 12) and South Old Rand Road.
The driver's service facility has been in the Brookside Shopping Center on Peterson Road in Libertyville for 30 years, but Lake Zurich officials last month approved a plan for it to move to a larger space at Deerpath Commons. Sfire said he has a lease with the state, and the panel's decision is the final step.
As the general contractor, Fidelity will build the facility based on specifications from the secretary of state's office. It should take about a month to secure a construction permit for the work.
"The final blueprints and construction documents should be ready by the end of this week," according to Sfire. "We're hoping before Thanksgiving they should be occupying the space."
Secretary of State Spokesman Dave Druker said the agency's real estate advisory panel should make a decision this week.
"We have a contract. We have not signed it. We have a formal procedure to go through," he said Monday.
Because the plan commission recommended approval and the village board agreed, all that's needed is staff review to ensure compliance with codes in advance of a building permit being issued, according to Ray Witherow, assistant village manager.
"There's been considerable movement in the last couple of weeks," Witherow said.
The Libertyville facility is 6,700 square feet compared to 9,638 square feet planned in Lake Zurich. About 1,200 people visit the Libertyville facility daily.
"Any consumer we can bring into Lake Zurich is another consumer we didn't have," Sfire said.
The lease in Libertyville ends Sept. 30. There is a month-to-month "hold over" clause but the state is $27,600 or three months past due on its rent, which could nullify those terms, said Steve Martin, whose family owns the Brookside center. The state had been as much as seven months behind, he added.
Martin said the Lake Zurich rent would be lower per square foot but higher overall because of the size of the new facility. Parking also will be an issue, he contended.
"It's tough to understand the logic of their move," he said.