Lombard board reviews market findings for DuPage Theatre site
Lombard trustees on Thursday had the first of what will likely be several discussions this year about what to do with the vacant downtown property where the DuPage Theatre once stood.
Last fall, the village board hired Tracy Cross & Associates to do a marketing analysis for the 2-acre site for $17,500. Factors that were considered in the analysis included retail, office and residential vacancies, along with demographic projections for Lombard and the surrounding area.
Their findings to date show that a 120-unit apartment complex development with an average base monthly rent around $1,650 might be the best fit for the site, but the board is still far from making a decision on what to do with the property.
"They're not telling us anything we should do, they're just telling us what the market is," said Village Manager Scott Niehaus.
The village acquired the property, located at 101-109 S. Main St., in 2000. Seven years later, the 79-year-old theater was demolished, despite outcry from some residents. It is now used as a parking lot for Metra commuters.
The firm's president, Tracy Cross, said rental properties are the type of real estate that is most in demand right now in the Lombard area. He said he is confident the village would receive at least five responses if it put out a request for proposals for an apartment complex.
Cross and HollyAnn Eageny, vice president for client services, noted the demographic of renters in the suburbs has changed significantly, with about 45 percent being age 45 and older. Having an apartment complex in downtown Lombard, they said, will draw in a more established tenant base than new complexes being built near Butterfield Road and the I-88 corridor.
"Even with those projects coming on, the differences in location, the differences in the rent levels, to do 120-units here will not be adversely affected by anything that may happen in those other properties," Eageny said. "It's a completely different lifestyle environment."
Because of that and other factors, Cross believes an apartment complex on the Main Street property could be "positioned at the high end of the market," but not too high. He said that means rent values would likely be less than Regency Place in Oakbrook Terrace and Wheaton 121 in Wheaton but higher than The Residences at The Grove in Downers Grove.
Cross said a 3,500-square -foot retail space could also work nicely on the first floor of the complex, if it can draw in tenants that offer something new to the downtown area. Trustee Dan Whittington said that is a feature he would like to see, should the site end up being residential.
Trustee Bill Johnston asked if there could be more consideration for the development of the entire downtown area.
"I understand apartments are a great way to bring revenue in here, to bring people in here ... but we also have a piece of property by Walgreens that could do that too, and it's more toward the edge of downtown. The middle, primary downtown I'd like to see something of a catalyst," he said.