New residential development floated for Barrington’s Golden Triangle

Barrington’s Golden Triangle could be the site for another large residential development.

Michael Fleck and Nick Marrocco of the Barrington Development Co. unveiled the concept for The Residences at Liberty Commons before village trustees Monday night.

The proposal for the estimated $100 million project comes as another portion of Barrington’s Redevelopment Area #1, also known as the Golden Triangle, will undergo a facelift with a retail and residential project in the works by Joe Taylor III of Compasspoint Development.

Fleck and Marrocco, who founded Gateway Development Partners in 2012, have assembled eight parcels near the corner of Liberty and Hough streets.

“I really love this community. It's wonderful. The schools are great, but I think there could be some more vibrancy to downtown,” Fleck said.

“We need to bring some density and multifamily to support the downtown area,” he said, emphasizing the transit-oriented nature of the project.

It is a half mile from the train station and within walking distance of downtown.

The target market would be young professionals, downsizers, empty nesters and families. The proposal calls for 16 studio apartments, 119 one-bedrooms, 66 two-bedrooms, six three-bedrooms and 16 townhouses. The buildings would be clad in a classic Chicago brownstone style, planners said.

Residents would have access to a pocket park with a fountain, two dog parks and a walking path.

Fleck said he is negotiating with the owner of the adjacent building containing Paul’s Burrito Express to add that corner to the development.

He said the buildings could be up by the spring or summer of 2028.

Fleck would seek tax increment financing support.

“This would bring 223 households to the downtown Barrington area that are going to support businesses and bring in new businesses potentially in downtown Barrington,” he said.

Trustees expressed concern about traffic. Fleck said he has engaged the traffic engineering firm KLOA to work through potential traffic issues.

“Traffic is a top priority,” Trustee Brian Prigge said. “Overall, do I like the concept? Do I like the look? Yes. But if traffic is going to be the death knell, then we should know that sooner than later.”