Plans for old Pheasant Run resort site in St. Charles recommended for approval

A month after a proposal for the former Pheasant Run resort site was shot down by the St. Charles City Council, a modified development plan has won preliminary approval in a split vote.

The revised plan — which reduced the number of planned drive-through lanes on the site and included other tweaks — was approved in a 6-3 vote, with some council members still expressing dissatisfaction with the project.

Located at East Main Street and Kautz Road on the city’s eastern edge, the development is going in on 33.7 acres of what had been the site of the Pheasant Run Resort, a facility that was shuttered in 2020 and badly damaged by a fire in 2022.

Redevelopment plans have been in discussion for years, and parts of the property have been sold off to make way for car dealerships and an industrial park.

What was approved this week is the last portion of the property to be redeveloped.

Last year, a concept plan for The Shops at Pheasant Run was submitted to the city by SC Landman. The property owner is Chicago-based developer Vequity.

Preliminary plans call for construction of a Chase Bank, Valvoline Instant Oil Change and Dutch Bros Coffee. The development of additional lots — the overall project calls for a total of 18 to 25 businesses at a construction cost of $70 million to $100 — will require future city approval.

Although the council has been largely supportive of the development, Vequity’s proposal has been the subject of several discussions and plans modified in response to feedback, particularly in reference to how many drive-thrus would be permitted and the project’s overall concept.

Among the chief concessions was a restriction on the number of drive-thrus. The developer is limited to the five that have already been proposed and a sixth for a future business.

Any additional drive-thrus would need to come back to the city as a special use request, according to a city memo.

The developer also committed to a 30-month waiting period for several of the site’s center lots. Officials want to give Vequity time to secure tenants that might build things like a grocery store, fitness center or entertainment venue.

Car washes are prohibited on the majority of the lots under the revised plan, although a request for a special use could be made and would need to be approved by the council. If a gas station was proposed for a future lot, certain restrictions would apply.

Additionally, one lot is proposed to be a car dealership. Gary McGrath currently owns two nearby dealerships and is seeking to build another on the Pheasant Run property, according to city documents.

At Monday’s meeting, McGrath spoke to the council about bringing another dealership to the site, which could produce significant tax revenue for the city.

As the plans currently stand, there would be a five-year waiting period for a potential car dealership to be built on one of the lots. The council could choose to waive that restriction depending on plans submitted for a specific project but in the meantime the lot could be used to store vehicle inventory, officials said.

Christopher Ilekis, owner and founder of Vequity, told the council that they’ve heard from the community and city and “made revisions to the plan accordingly.”

Noting that the reduction in drive-thru businesses allows for more retail, restaurants and shop space to be built on the site, Ilekis said only 9% of the building square footage would be dedicated to drive-thru space and several of the proposed drive-thrus are “limited service.”

“Like all of you, we want what is best for St. Charles and its residents,” he said. “If we’re approved tonight, we’ll make sure this is a project we will all be proud of.”

Ald. Steve Weber said he wants to make sure that development projects in St. Charles help spur further additional growth.

“All these things are all happening together,” Weber said. “The momentum is there. I do not want to kill the momentum.”

Ald. Vicki Spellman said she decided to get behind the project “after a great deal of consideration.”

“What I keep coming back to is that this land is in private hands, and the owner can build anything here that meets the code, including car washes, gas stations and truck stops,” Spellman said. “If we say no today, they can simply sell to someone else who does the same thing. And the best chance we have as a community and as council to influence what goes in there is to collaborate with the developer.”

The developer has been willing to work with the city and compromise on some of the city’s asks, she said. Allowing this project to go forward makes the development more cohesive, as opposed to “14 separate businesses sitting side by side,” which is what could happen if a lot of the lots get sold off individually.

Others, however, remain opposed.

Ald. Jayme Muenz said she doesn’t feel as though “the overall sentiment” of what residents are seeking “is what was delivered.”

“I don’t think this is a bad development,” she said. “I just don’t think it’s the right development for the site that we’re looking at.”

By approving it as proposed, the city is not following its comprehensive plan for the property nor is the development offering anything that the city doesn’t already have, Muenz said.

“We are, by approving this, making the same mistake we’ve made on the east side on a lot of things, where we are allowing developers to tell us what we want our city to look like,” she said.

Ald. Ronald Silkaitis similarly questioned the overall vision for the project.

“Nothing about this project excites me whatsoever for our gateway to St. Charles,” Silkaitis said.

He also questioned things like the caveat that a potential gas station could be built on the site even though “everybody’s so confident about a dealership’s going to be built there,” he said. He’s opposed to a car wash or gas station being part of it, and noted that the drive-thru restriction doesn’t mean they can’t propose more in the future.

Ald. Ryan Bongard said the project “shines a big bright light on one of (the city’s) biggest challenges, and that is vision.”

“I want to be able to reach for something that is unique, and what I’ve seen so far continues to raise concerns,” Bongard said. “I don’t know how you make that all fit together perfectly so that you can have that high standard.”

The preliminary plans were approved by Weber, Spellman, Dave Petschke, David Pietryla, Bryan Wirball and Ed Bessner. Voting against it were Muenz, Silkaitis and Bongard.

The council will take a final vote on the development at a future meeting.

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com