Dunkin' Donuts planned for new Mount Prospect shopping center
As demolition proceeds on the former Tri-State Electronics building along Northwest Highway in Mount Prospect, a developer is moving ahead with plans to replace it with a new shopping center.
The center, located between Elmhurst Avenue and Pine Street, will consist of two multi-tenant buildings totaling 10,374 square feet. At this point, only one planned tenant has been announced.
That tenant, Dunkin' Donuts, was the focus of discussion at Tuesday's Mount Prospect village board meeting, during which trustees approved a conditional use permit allowing for a drive-through window.
Trustees approved the permit despite concerns about the interaction between that drive-through and one for the nearby Mount Prospect State Bank. The shopping center's developer plans to install a stop sign as one solution.
The plan, presented by architect Jim Tinaglia and developer Scott Whisler, calls for the shopping center to be integrated into an area that includes the bank, Capannari Ice Cream and Moehling Park.
"Our intention is to wholly take advantage of the fact that this spot is a special spot," Tinaglia said.
Mayor Arlene Juracek admitted initial reservations about the proposal but said the plan as designed makes the project pedestrian friendly.
"I know my first reaction, when I first heard Dunkin' Donuts, was, 'Eeww, not in our downtown,'" she said. "But then I started to understand who the development team was, who the architect was. And I said, 'As long as we get a quality product here, it can work.' And I think (the developers) are very cognizant of the aura, the aesthetic we want to create in downtown Mount Prospect."
The developers said the explored other possibilities for the site, such as a mixed-use development that would include a residential component, but decided that was not feasible.
"I have done a number of mixed-use development buildings," Tinaglia said.
"The issue in every one of those is parking, parking, parking, parking," he said, adding that it would require "digging a huge hole with underground parking at $35,000 to $40,000 a stall."
"We thought commercial is what this needed to be," he said.
The ownership will have a local flavor, with Mount Prospect native John Luxem running the show.
"We want to be a part of this community," he said. "This is the perfect spot for a community-based enterprise like ours. We want to complement Capannari's.
"I have lived here my entire life. I know how important the downtown is in Mount Prospect."
The Tri-State Electronics building is being demolished as a result of an October 2013 roof collapse.