Vacant Elgin auto shop might become clubhouse

A vacant former auto shop along Villa Street in Elgin may be converted into a clubhouse for the nearby mobile home community.

Veronica Bracho, community manager for Old Oaks Estates, said she's excited about the plan to turn 848 Villa St. into a place where residents can gather for holidays and parties.

The building used to house Fernandez Auto Service and previously A-1 Cab Dispatch, she said. The property was bought within the last year by partners with Zeman Homes, which owns the community with 264 manufactured homes, she said.

Community functions are held outdoors and can be ruined by the weather, she said. If the plans are approved by the city, the clubhouse also would be available to residents for rental for a "small fee," she said.

"It's fantastic for them to have a place to gather, to have parties," she said. "Most of these homes are really small, so it's difficult for them to have gatherings."

Demeke Berhanu-Haile, principal architect of DBH Associates Architects in Elgin, said he hopes the city's planning and zoning commission will consider the rezoning petition Dec. 3. The building's footprint is 3,600 square feet and there would be a parking lot with about 17 spaces surrounded by landscaping, he said.

Zeman Homes already has spruced up the building with cleanup and a new wall, Bracho said. "It looks 1,000 times better than when we took it over already," she said. The building also might house the management office, now across the street at 850 Villa St., she said.

"We're really excited about it. Hopefully, if it goes according to plan, it's going make a big difference on that corner."

Zeman Homes also is considering a separate, long-term project to build a park with swings and slides, and possibly a soccer field, in an open area east of Suzanne Lane, Bracho said.