Palatine shopping center development delayed again
The intention is still to build a shopping center with office space, retail and a late-night restaurant on the long-vacant AC Plaza property in Palatine.
But the Northwest Highway lot likely will continue to house a lot of gravel, overgrown grass, debris and standing water for the foreseeable future.
The village council Monday unanimously agreed to grant a yet another time extension to the planned development, which was originally approved six years ago and pushed back twice with the owner citing poor economic conditions.
There was a trade off this time, however, with the typical 18-month extension increased to five years in exchange for the owner — amid neighbors’ concerns — agreeing to forgo the 4 a.m. liquor license he was promised in 2005. The new license, whenever it’s granted, will mean the future restaurant will have to stop serving liquor earlier in the night.
“This is a tremendous plan to appease both sides,” Councilman Aaron Del Mar said. “That would ease a lot of the tension going on in that area.”
In the meantime, the village staff will reach out to the Illinois Department of Transportation to initiate talks between the state agency and the property owner to clean up the site, located near Colfax Street.
Councilman Jack Wagner said that the village has repeatedly tried to get property owner Tony D’Agostaro, whose family also owns the adjacent AC Imports luxury pre-owned car dealership, to make the lot more “appealing.”
Del Mar agreed that improved aesthetics are important because the area serves as one of the village’s entrances, visible to commuters who use the main thoroughfare.
But the owner explained that when IDOT made some improvements to Northwest Highway, crews covered the lot with various materials including gravel, changing the topography in a way that made drainage difficult and the prospect of growing grass impossible.
Fino D’Agostaro said his family is maintaining the lot to the best of its ability but was agreeable to working with IDOT.