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Melting Pot out in Buffalo Grove, three new restaurants in

Something is stirring on the corner now occupied by the Melting Pot restaurant in Buffalo Grove's Plaza Verde Shopping Center.

Plans are underway to replace the Melting Pot, at the southwest corner of Arlington Heights and Dundee roads, with three new restaurants, said Lawrence Freedman, attorney for Plaza Verde's owner, National Shopping Plazas Inc.

On Monday, Freedman told the Buffalo Grove Village Board board he cannot yet identify the restaurants because he is still negotiating with them, but expects deals finalized with two of them within the next few weeks.

He said the developer intends to replace the current 5,815-square-foot restaurant building and the construction of a new 7,168-square-foot building with three tenant spaces ranging in size from 2,078 to 2,664 square feet. The new building will include an outdoor patio area with space for each of the three tenants, and its architecture will be compatible with the shopping center, Freedman said.

When asked by Trustee Jeffrey Berman whether the Melting Pot would be closing even without the changes, Freedman answered that was a given.

The developer will need to amend its Planned Unit Development, which will require a recommendation from the village's Plan Commission and approval from the village board. But the board appeared receptive to the idea Monday.

Trustee Jeffrey Braiman said, tongue firmly planted in cheek, “Actually I was hoping for a bank,” which elicited laughter from the board, no doubt drawing on memories of 2004, when the village imposed a temporary moratorium on banks. Braiman moved to refer the matter to the plan commission.

While supporting the concept, Trustee Beverly Sussman said she was fond of the Melting Pot building.

“It was the one thing in the shopping center that was different and creative, and it gave some oomph to the village as you drove down that street,” she said.