‘Long-term potential’: Retail, grocery proposed for 20 acres at center of Hawthorn Woods
Twenty prime acres in Hawthorn Woods, a property that has been beset by challenges and remained vacant for more than 15 years, is ready for development.
“We’ve started reaching out to the marketplace and reaching out to potential users,” said developer Jonathan Berger, head of Berger Asset Management. “I think we’ll be revealing users in short order.”
The private group owns the property north and east of Old McHenry and Midlothian roads and has worked over the years with national and regional developers who tried to overcome challenges, but development stalled.
Two years ago, Berger and investors decided to create a near shovel-ready site before moving ahead with development plans.
“We’ve always recognized the broader, long-term potential of the land site, as a retail development, a grocery-anchored center or other commercial use,” according to Berger.
Collaborating with the village, Berger secured significant zoning variations and incentives. Originally, the property’s zoning required 300-foot setbacks, for example, which were reduced to 30-foot setbacks more typical in most retail properties, he said.
In March, the village board approved measures to allow for commercial development at the corner and in a separate action authorized rebating one-third of sales taxes generated, up to $1.5 million.
The incentive also calls for a 33% rebate of village or state grocery taxes for 15 years if a food or grocery store of 4,000 square feet or larger is built.
Hawthorn Woods is supporting the process to bring commercial amenities so residents can stay in town to shop, dine and congregate. Permitted uses include a gas station, quick-service or sit-down restaurants, pharmacies or coffee shops with drive-throughs.
“Additionally, we hope to diversify our tax base to be less reliant on property taxes and create a stronger nonresidential tax base to support services in town while remaining uniquely upscale with rural by design environmental features,” said Pam Newton, Hawthorn Woods’ operating officer.
The site is divided into eight parcels ranging from 1.5 to 4.4 acres, with a ninth lot in negotiation. When fully developed, the center could generate as much as $1 million in annual tax revenue for the village, according to Berger.
One of the issues impacting development is a freight rail line that crosses Old McHenry Road just to the east of the site. Trains, at times, create significant delays causing drivers to avoid the area, according to Berger.
Building an underpass is in the Lake County Division of Transportation's 5-year improvement program, with construction tentatively scheduled to begin in 2029.
When complete, the project will more directly and conveniently connect the Town Center Site with Hawthorn Woods’ signature Community Park, a center for various activities, according to Berger.
He said work on the first phase of Hawthorn Town Center will proceed in advance of that project.
Berger originally acquired two 20-plus-acre parcels on either side of Old McHenry Road in 2009-2010. The southern section was sold in 2019 and 70 homes built, a departure from the typical village residential lots of 1 acre or larger.