Schaumburg approves design guidelines for northeast gateway on Algonquin Road
Schaumburg officials are protecting their recent investment in the aesthetics of the village’s northeast gateway along Algonquin Road by adopting design regulations for two small properties adjacent to the spruced up corner.
Until 2023, the northwest corner of Algonquin Road and Thorntree Lane marked entry into Schaumburg with a highway billboard hanging over an abandoned and barely standing hot dog stand on unincorporated land the village did not control.
After years of trying, the village was finally able to purchase the eyesore property to help create a more welcoming gateway to the village near the Schaumburg Convention Center and other developments underway.
The $700,000 sale closed in January 2023 and both billboard and restaurant on the third of an acre site at 1580 E. Algonquin Road were erased the following summer.
Last fall, the village installed the Schaumburg gateway sign long intended for the site, but more recently turned its attention to the vacant land just north and west of it.
Those two separately owned parcels are unused apart from some parking. Mayor Tom Dailly said he wants to make sure any ideas to change that enhance rather than detract from what’s already been done.
“We don’t want to piecemeal this stuff,” he added.
On Tuesday, trustees formally added a list of guidelines to the village’s comprehensive land-use plan.
They don’t want gas stations, auto repair businesses, liquor stores and other incompatible uses.
They are encouraging a cohesive development with a single access point on Thorntree Lane. They also want buildings with main entrances facing south and east along the roadways, outdoor dining as part of any restaurant and restrictions on garbage enclosures.
Schaumburg is also hoping to transform the opposite side of Algonquin Road, where an aging Cook County highway maintenance facility lies, in the coming years. However, the guidelines discussed Tuesday don’t pertain to this property.
A deal with the county was recently struck for the facility to relocate through a land swap to a property the village recently bought at 2222 Hammond Drive.
A potential hotel, restaurant and retail development is the leading contender for the prominent county site. That could generate up to $14 million for the redevelopment area’s tax increment finance (TIF) district that’s scheduled to expire in 2038, as well as up to $1 million a year in consumer taxes.