Redeveloping downtown Glenview, Part II: Q&A with village president, planner

Redeveloping downtown Glenview has weighed heavily on the minds of the village board and residents for the past several years.

Through the Glenview Connect process and recent downtown district code amendments, downtown development has drawn many diverse opinions.

Glenview's L-shaped downtown - along Glenview Road from Washington Street to just east of Waukegan Road; from Dewes Street to around Prairie Street; and along Waukegan Road up to Lake Avenue - is one of the most important aspects on the slate of Village President Mike Jenny, trustees, and village staff members.

The Herald recently had the opportunity for a remote interview on downtown development with Jenny and Jeff Brady, Glenview's director of Planning Services. Following is the second portion to be published from that interview. It has been edited for clarity.

Herald: Given the state of office state and brick-and-mortar retail, what kind of businesses are you hoping to attract downtown?

Brady: I think one of the things that you'll see just in the general marketplace that's happening given all of the circumstances, whether it's the economy or the COVID situation or just lifestyles and how they're continuing to evolve - and that's kind of the basis for the updates of the (downtown development) code - (is) mixed use. How can people live, work and play in the same area?

You're seeing a lot of things are not just sole purpose, they're multipurpose. So, for instance, the local coffee shop - you just don't go to the local coffee shop to get coffee, you might get some food, you also might have a meeting or meet with friends after you're going to your yoga class.

So, those types of mixes of uses where maybe you are meeting, or (you) have a satellite office compared to working out of your home office in the downtown, for some of the office configurations.

You're seeing a lot more of the specialty type of retail that is very catered to the demographics of the towns that are around here, so some of the small boutique shops and things along those lines.

You're seeing a lot of service uses that kind of have a niche market.

And then I think you're also seeing, especially with some of the restaurants, maybe a hesitancy for people to go downtown (Chicago) and things of that nature, so what can they go to locally since a lot of people are kind of coalescing in that family, neighborhood type of atmosphere. What are some opportunities for some of those restaurants that are neighborhood-based?

I think that's where you're seeing some of these downtowns ... trying to kind of reinvent themselves given the circumstances of today.

I think that's the type of businesses - service uses and residential opportunities - that you'll see in the future.

Jenny: I would echo that sentiment and I have heard similar feedback with respect to certain uses of the spaces - restaurants (is) one that keeps coming up again and again.

I think the baseline for me is what was important, the baseline expectation in terms of showing residents that we have incorporated feedback into our rules and regulations that are going to govern this, and really to give developers a framework of what we want to see in their plans. Then it's up to them to develop a use that they think would be economically viable.

The residents told us a number of different things very clearly - limit the building height and density particularly in certain areas; walkability, pedestrian-friendly; green space. And a number of those things are codified in the new regulations.

But we want to be the blank canvas upon which a developer would like to paint using all of the work that staff and the board and the public feedback has gone into the new downtown code and guidelines.

In terms of use, we really wanted to be ready for the highest and best use of that land within the guidelines that have been put in place. I think it's fair to say that right now people are talking about restaurants but it could be something different down the road. We just want to be ready for that.

Herald: Is there a possibility that one of these properties, or a whole area, could be subject to a TIF?

Jenny: It's not contemplated now. We did just close The Glen TIF, so it would be possible and we don't want to eliminate any options that could be available to us. But it's not contemplated right now.

What we've got right now is a momentum behind effecting change to the downtown. It's a priority for the board, I think it's got a momentum now that it hasn't had in the past and we want to capitalize on that and make the downtown the center of the village and have it be a thriving commercial area. I don't know a TIF would be required to do that given all the tools we have at our disposal currently.

We've got an excitement around an iconic spot in the village. It was a couple of years of work - we're fresh off the Glenview Connect, codified and baked into the plans all of this feedback and change, and we're excited to go and see what we can do with it.

Herald: Any timelines on projects?

Brady: Based on the direction from the board the village will be working on implementation of several items over this coming year.