‘I can’t wait’: $22M redevelopment deal for former Des Plaines YMCA could be inked Tuesday
A $22 million deal to renovate a dilapidated former YMCA facility in Des Plaines and reopen it as a private athletic center should be finalized early next week.
The Des Plaines City Council on Tuesday is expected to approve an economic incentive and development agreement for the former Lattof YMCA, 300 E. Northwest Highway. The pact would be between the city, which purchased the roughly 4-acre site earlier this year for about $1.9 million, and SG Des Plaines and Spectate Group.
SG and Spectate are subsidiaries of the Mount Prospect-based Nicholas Family of Companies, which operates facilities including the Nicholas Sportsplex in Mount Prospect and the Rosemont Ice Arena.
A roughly 90,000-square-foot community athletic facility with a bar, restaurant and store is planned. Basketball and pickleball courts, a fitness area with weightlifting equipment and a walking track are among the anticipated amenities.
Architectural renderings identify the facility as Cambridge Athletic & Social.
Construction could start this fall and wrap up in a year.
The site is in the city’s 7th Ward; Alderman Patsy Smith said she’s “extremely excited” about the project.
“I can’t wait for it to happen,” Smith said. “I know it’s going to be first class.”
Under the proposed deal, Des Plaines would finance 90% of the project’s cost by lending the Nicholas Family of Companies up to $19.8 million. That loan, to be paid off over 20 years, would generate more than $5 million in interest payments for the city.
The companies would put up the remaining $2.2 million.
Once the facility is built, the city will transfer ownership to SG Des Plaines, documents indicate. Spectate Group will operate the business.
Additionally, city officials intend to support the developers’ eventual application for a property assessment reduction that could reduce the site’s property tax bill for 12 years.
Opened in 1961 as the Northwest Suburban YMCA, the facility was renamed the Lattof YMCA in 1980 to honor suburban car dealer and philanthropist Nicholas M. Lattof. It closed permanently in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and now is in disrepair.
The proposed agreement is the latest public/private partnership in Des Plaines. Others include the agreements that led to the renovation of the Des Plaines Theatre and the current conversion of a former bank building on Lee Street into a restaurant that will be called The Dime.
Tuesday’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.
The council normally meets on Monday nights, but city hall is closed Monday for Labor Day.
rlissau@dailyherald.com