Woodman's still interested in Lakemoor, but how long will it wait?
The plan announced this week for a Woodman's Food Market in Buffalo Grove hasn't knocked out of consideration an earlier proposal in Lakemoor, but the grocer's future there is uncertain.
“The proposed store in Buffalo Grove has no impact on our desire to build a store” at routes 12 and 120 in Lakemoor, said Bret Backus, vice president of real estate.
But without addressing specifics, Backus acknowledged ongoing issues with the site.
“Like any proposed development, there are a number of moving pieces that need to come together before this proposed location becomes a reality,” he said.
In February, Lakemoor officials announced a tentative agreement for the Wisconsin-based company to buy and develop a long-vacant 74-acre parcel at the southwest corner of routes 12 and 120. The plan called for a 240,000-square-foot food store with a free-standing gas station/convenience store, quick lube and car wash on a portion of the site.
Woodman's investment was estimated at $40 million and is considered the impetus for long-sought commercial development in the heavily traveled area. The store is known for low prices and has sales of nearly four times that of a typical grocer, experts have said, making it a plum catch for a community.
On Wednesday, the company announced plans to anchor a new 25-acre commercial development at Milwaukee Avenue and Deerfield Parkway in Buffalo Grove as a joint project with Shorewood Development Group. The proposed grocery store is the same size and has the same ancillary uses as the Lakemoor project.
However, plans have not advanced in Lakemoor and a lawsuit regarding the legality of a special financing district designated by the village as an incentive to drive the project continues. The village says there are flooding issues that make the site difficult and expensive to develop.
“It's a very challenging site and it hasn't been developed because of these obstacles,” said Matt Dabrowski, Lakemoor's director of community and economic development.
The taxing bodies — Wauconda Township, Wauconda Unit District 118 and Wauconda Area Library — maintain the site will develop without the designation, which freezes the property value for taxing purposes and subsequently the amount of property taxes received for 23 years.
Frustrated Lakemoor officials maintain development can't happen without that incentive and say a settlement offer to share sales taxes has been ignored.
“We're still in contact (with Woodman's), but the most concerning part is that Wauconda Township, the school district and the library district totally ignored a settlement offer we sent four months ago,” village Administrator David Alarcon said.
Dean Krone, an attorney representing the taxing bodies, said the case is at a point where the parties are awaiting documents they have requested from each other before engaging in settlement talks.
Extending utilities to the Woodman's site is estimated to cost $12 million. An agreement outlining the village's cost obligations is stalled until the lawsuit is settled or a court decision reached.
Will Woodman's wait until that happens?
“We're not sure,” Alarcon said.
Woodman's is an employee-owned and -operated business with 16 food and merchandise centers in Wisconsin and Illinois, including stores in Carpentersville, North Aurora and Rockford.