St. Charles to review proposals for redevelopment of old police station

The St. Charles City Council on Monday will review redevelopment proposals for the former St. Charles police station along the Fox River.

Aldermen will review the proposals at 5 p.m. during a special workshop meeting. In October, council members unanimously voted to seek conceptual proposals for the former police station. The development site potentially includes adjacent open spaces and parking lots.

"The intent of this request for conceptual proposals is to identify potential project concepts that meet the city's interests for redevelopment of the property," the city stated in its request for proposals. "The city intends to review the conceptual proposals and consider selecting a developer with a concept that best meets the qualifications of this request. If a concept is selected, the city would continue discussions with the select developer regarding refinement of the concept and a redevelopment agreement for the property."

The council in 2020 decided to hold off on seeking development proposals in light of the adverse economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The department's new $24.6 million state-of-the-art police station at 1515 W. Main St. opened in September 2019. The new 56,000-square-foot station replaced the department's former quarters at 211 N. Riverside Ave., portions of which date back almost 100 years.

The city prefers a mixed-use redevelopment proposal, but is open to the property being developed for retail or office use or as a restaurant, hotel or for condominiums or apartments. The proposal "should take into consideration the quality and style of architecture in the downtown and how the proposed building complements the existing built environment," city documents state.

"Growing the commercial or residential base in downtown will require special attention to address parking demand," the document states. "Proposals should include parking to accommodate the requirements of the development, and to the extent possible, parking should be located internally. Any parking that exceeds the minimum required parking for the development would be considered favorable."