Glenview residents sue to block construction of downtown apartment building

A group of Glenview residents has filed suit against the village to try to block construction of a 5-story, 68-unit mixed-use apartment building they argue is too dense and massive for its prominent downtown location.

Residents of the Station Place and Prairie Street townhouses, located just north of the proposed redevelopment at 1850 Glenview Road, argue the new building would be a "permanent fundamental change" to the village's downtown.

"A keystone site owned by the Village of Glenview needs to be developed in a pedestrian-friendly way that benefits residents and businesses and sets an exemplary precedent for future downtown development," attorney William Seitz wrote in his June 1 suit.

Seitz, who lives in one of the neighboring townhouses, leads the 1850 Glenview Road Facts group that has opposed The Drake Group's mixed-use development of the village-owned former Bess Hardware site. The proposal received rezoning and other approvals on a 4-2 village board vote March 3.

Seitz and other residents argue the U-shaped building that would abut their houses is too tall, too dense, exasperates existing parking shortages and increases flooding risks.

Supporters of the project - including the four village trustees who constituted the slim majority to move the project forward - say it's the best of eight proposals real estate broker CBRE brought to them two years ago. The building would have apartments on the top four floors and nearly 3,000 square feet of first-floor retail space for a proposed Sweet Mandy B's cupcake shop.

"Otherwise we will see an empty parking lot and an empty building for the foreseeable future," Trustee Karim Khoja said.

But when trustees refused to change their votes during the last village board meeting May 28, that led Seitz to go to court.

"We just accepted service of the lawsuit last week and forwarded it to our attorney," village spokeswoman Lynne Stiefel said Tuesday. "The attorney is in the process of reviewing and analyzing the claim."

Village officials say they bought the former hardware store property in January 2017 for $2.2 million in an effort to spur downtown redevelopment. They sold the land along with two adjoining parcels - totaling just under an acre of land - to Drake in April 2019 for $1.5 million.

The residents' suit seeks to invalidate the sales agreement, alleging the village didn't follow state law for the sale of surplus real estate. The suit also claims the village did not follow due process because the plan commission's legal notice and materials didn't indicate a rezoning was being proposed.

A hearing date in Cook County court is set for Sept. 30.

In the meantime, village trustees at their last meeting said they may put a temporary moratorium on new downtown development projects while the 2006 downtown plan is updated over the next year.