‘Truly special’: Des Plaines will team with developer to renovate shuttered YMCA facility into new athletic center
Des Plaines is set to purchase a long-vacant YMCA facility and lease it to a company that will renovate the building and operate a new athletic center there before eventually taking ownership, city officials announced Wednesday.
The city council on Monday will vote on a proposed contract to purchase the former Lattof YMCA, 300 E. Northwest Highway, from the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago for $1.85 million. The council then will vote on whether to turn over the roughly 4-acre site to Mount Prospect-based Nicholas Family of Companies for redevelopment.
That’s the group that developed facilities including the Nicholas Sportsplex in Mount Prospect, the Mount Prospect Golf Course and the Rosemont Ice Arena. It also recently purchased the Glacier Ice Arena in Vernon Hills, and it’s building a similar facility in Elk Grove Village that’s expected to open this year.
With an anticipated $22 million price tag, the proposed Lattof YMCA redevelopment would transform the Northwest Highway corridor, Mayor Andrew Goczkowski said in a news release.
“It brings new energy to a long-vacant and highly visible site while creating a regional destination that draws visitors from across the Northwest suburbs,” Goczkowski said. “Just as importantly, it reflects our commitment to reinvesting in our community in a way that delivers quality amenities for residents and long-term economic value for Des Plaines.”
Opened in 1961, the Lattof YMCA was among those that were permanently shuttered in 2020 because of financial pressures, including those brought on by the then-new COVID-19 crisis.
Amenities included swimming pools, racquetball and basketball courts, and an outdoor skate park.
In the years since its closure, the property has fallen into disrepair. Weeds poke through cracks in what was the skate park; several plate-glass windows are covered with plywood; smaller windows are broken and jagged.
Police occasionally visit the site to deal with suspected trespassers.
The Nicholas Family of Companies reached out to city officials in December with a plan to renovate the property through a public/private partnership, city spokesperson Brad Goodman said.
With such a deal in mind, the city council directed City Manager Dorothy Wisniewski to negotiate a purchase contract with the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. The agreed-upon price is $350,000 less than the property’s appraised value, Goodman said.
Under its proposed agreement with the city, the Nicholas Family of Companies will transform the 90,000-square-foot building into a modern community sports complex that also will feature a bar, a restaurant and other amenities. The company eventually will own the site.
Nicholas Family CEO Nick Papanicholas Jr. said the project is “incredibly personal” for him and his family.
“My siblings and I spent countless hours at the Lattof YMCA growing up,” he said in the city’s news release. “It was a place where we learned, played and built lifelong friendships.”
To now be able to partner with the city to bring new life to the property “is truly special,” Papanicholas said.
As an incentive, the city will lend the Nicholas Family of Companies up to $19.8 million over 20 years to fund the project. That’s 90% of the project cost.
At a 2.5% rate, Des Plaines will receive an estimated $5.3 million in interest payments over time, according to the city’s news release.
A Nicholas Family company, the Spectate Group, is lined up to manage the facility, according to the city’s news release. Another company under the Nicholas Family umbrella, Big Fish Hospitality, is set to handle food and beverage operations.
Monday’s council meeting is set for 7 p.m. at city hall, 1420 Miner St. The meeting is open to the public and will be livestreamed at desplainesil.gov.