Bartlett board reviews designs for Lake Street gateway project
Bartlett village board members provided input Tuesday on three visions for redevelopment of the town’s northeastern gateway on Lake Street, which will help shape a fourth plan for unveiling at a public open house July 22.
They also recontracted consultant a5 Branding & Digital of Chicago for $50,000 through next April to market the finished product to potential developers, and ultimately residents and visitors.
But it was consultants from Chicago-based urban planning firm Houseal Lavigne who led the board through the three initial scenarios inspired by meetings with focus groups and trustees in April.
They said the aim is to create a 63-acre mixed-use development at the entrance to the village that will be distinct from a typical commercial development along a highway and provide adequate parking.
The project is also intended to be complementary to the village’s downtown without drawing economic energy away from it.
Board members were drawn toward the most “landscape-forward” Scenario C and away from the most intensive Scenario A. Village President Dan Gunsteen thought the design put forth at next month’s public hearing might look like a combination of options B and C.
Scenario C includes 8.8 acres of single-family homes, 5.4 acres of multifamily housing, 12.5 acres for commercial and entertainment businesses, and 30 acres of open space.
Scenario A features 20.1 acres of single-family homes, 2.8 acres of multifamily housing, 15.5 acres of mixed-use and entertainment, 3.4 acres of recreation/wellness space, and 19.5 acres of open space.
Trustee Stephanie Gandsey liked the idea of a development that could keep visitors in the area for a few hours. Trustee Joe LaPorte cited his 28-year-old daughter as an example of people looking to move back to the suburbs but with the walkable options they’d be giving up in Chicago.
“I like Scenario C because it’s more streamlined,” LaPorte said. “There’s a lot of green buffer area, the ecological park, so you get the green. But we have commercial, we have entertainment, we have mixed-use, we have multifamily, we have single-family. And one of our goals was revenue diversity over a long period of time, and I think that nails it.”
Trustee Raymond Deyne didn’t like the possibility of multifamily housing of five stories or more, but Village Administrator Paula Schumacher said developers wouldn’t be interested in doing anything with a lower height restriction.
Gunsteen said he is confident a version would be reached to satisfy everyone.
Houseal Lavigne consultants said what the early scenarios lack is any sense of the potential design of multifamily housing, as well as details that provide a better sense of scale.
A more complete presentation is anticipated for the public open house from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 22 at village hall, 228 S. Main St.
Still key to the plan are the acquisition of 43 acres from the Illinois Department of Transportation and the realignment of Oak Avenue’s approach from the south to create a four-way signalized intersection at Bartlett Road.
The village has created a 154-acre tax increment financing (TIF) district around the site to help fund public improvements and bought the first 20 acres for $3 million.