Downtown Mt. Prospect project goes to board

Mount Prospect's planning and zoning commission on Thursday voted 3-1 to recommend a $40 million Mount Prospect Town Center development, which according to village code, will now require the village board have a supermajority in order to approve the project next month.

The plan commission must have at least four votes in order for the village board to avoid the supermajority rule, which means five out of the board's seven members must vote for it, if the development is to be approved on a majority vote, said Bill Cooney, Mount Prospect's director of community development. A member of the commission was absent Thursday night.

The lone dissenting vote came from Keith Youngquist, who said he did not like the development's layout and its parking structure would likely be overused.

"There are too many unresolved issues that I'm not sure have been worked out yet," he said.

Northbrook developer John D. Heimbaugh, president and founder of Heimbaugh Capital Development Corp., once again presented to village officials his vision for downtown, which largely consisted of two, seven-story buildings on the 2-acre site, referred to as the small triangle. The triangle is bounded by Northwest Highway, Route 83 and Wille Street. The development would offer 105 condominiums and between 30,000 and 40,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Parking became a major topic of discussion with commissioners questioning the amount the development provided.

A parking structure, proposed on the north side of the development, would offer 276 spaces for retail customers and condominium residents. Of the spaces, 107 will be reserved for customers with about 169 for residents. The parking ratio for residents would be 1.6 spaces per unit, which is a higher ratio than there is for the other downtown project, village officials said.

"I believe 1.6 ratio is not going to be adequate especially if the majority (of the units) are two-bedroom units," said Commissioner Ronald Roberts regarding the development's condominium portion. "I know maybe many will be empty nesters, most people (in Mount Prospect) have two cars."

Developers said they'd try to increase the parking ratio in forthcoming drafts.

About 20 residents came to the meeting for this topic with about six addressing various concerns, including parking, traffic and the building design.

Carol Tortorello, a previous village plan commission member, gave her top 10 reasons why the development is a bad idea, including what she called blank yellow bricks, increased traffic and a design too large for the site, but her top one was a lack of developers involved. She said the village had not asked for proposals from other developers, who could offer different ideas.

"Variety is the spice of life and we will have to look at this corner for a long time," Tortorello said.

But Commissioner Leo Floros praised the development overall.

"I love the look of it and I welcome this architectural style," Floros said.

Earlier this month, the developer had shown his plan to the village board, which reviewed the development, but did not vote on it.

The proposal is expected to continue through the typical channels, going to village board again for another review at 7 p.m. April 15 at village hall 50 S. Emerson and then on for a final vote on May 6 board meeting, said Bill Cooney, village director of community development.

Heimbaugh has control of four parcels in the triangle at 15 W. Busse Ave., 19 W. Busse Ave., 22 W. Busse Ave. and 108 S. Main St.

The proposed development involves other properties, which the village is attempting to obtain through eminent domain.

Heimbaugh gained control of the properties late last year when Mount Prospect dentist Errol Oztekin sold all of his holdings in the triangle, except for Blues Bar, to Homebrook Prospect LLC, which lists Heimbaugh as its agent.

In 2006, Oztekin had unveiled plans to develop the triangle into a dining and entertainment hub.