Developer modifies plans for apartments, retail at former Kmart site in Lake Zurich
A modified proposal for apartments and a retail development on a long-vacant Kmart site was presented to the Lake Zurich village board Monday night.
Mark Hoffman of Garden Homes Management Corp., which owns the roughly 7-acre Rand Road site, made his second appearance before the village board this year. The Kmart closed in 2002, and the building has been empty since then.
In his informal presentation to the village board Monday, Hoffman said there would be about 160 apartments on the land across the street from Paulus Park, down from an originally estimated 175.
Garden Homes would demolish the Kmart and replace it with three 4-story apartment buildings and a retail center. There would be indoor parking for the one-, two- and three-bedroom rental units from 910 to 1,680 square feet.
Hoffman said the three buildings now would be constructed in a U-shaped configuration facing Rand Road. He said the new look would allow for a public courtyard to face Rand and improved pedestrian access to the apartments, stores and restaurants.
“I point out we're paying particular attention to making this project as green as possible,” Hoffman said. “As you can see, we created a rooftop garden adjacent to the public courtyard area.”
Other changes would include improved pedestrian connections from the new development to existing stores and restaurants in adjacent malls.
Lake Zurich officials expressed satisfaction with the changes Hoffman presented to them.
“I know folks are anxious to see this thing move forward,” Trustee Jonathan Sprawka said.
Responding to queries from Trustee Jeffrey Halen and Mayor Thomas Poynton, Hoffman said apartments are preferred over condominiums for the project because of the demand for rental units.
Garden Homes is expected to enter the village approval process for the proposed project in June before Lake Zurich's advisory planning and zoning commission.
Kmart operated on Rand Road for about 20 years until it was closed. Lake Zurich was part of Kmart's closure of 283 stores throughout the country in 2002, including 14 in the Chicago area.