Mount Prospect goes back to the drawing board for Block 56 redevelopment
A firm planning to redevelop Mount Prospect's former fire and police headquarters has dropped out of the project, leaving village officials searching for another developer to give the property a fresh start.
The police and fire building at 112 E. Northwest Highway is the centerpiece of a downtown parcel known as Block 56. It also includes the Chase Bank property at 111 E. Busse Ave. and the former Busse Flowers at 100 E. Northwest Highway.
In March 2020, Greystar Real Estate Advisors revealed a plan to build a 250-unit luxury apartment building with additional space for retail shops on the 3.5-acre site. The proposal also included public plazas, a memorial to first responders and a 296-space parking garage.
However, the company recently let lapse its contracts to purchase the former bank and floral shop properties, Mount Prospect Village Manager Michael Cassady said.
Now the village has issued a request for proposals from other companies interested in redeveloping the old police and fire building.
"(Greystar was) not able to secure a capital partner to do that deal, which is unfortunate, but it just is the reality right now," Cassady said. "Lenders out of state look very critically at Illinois deals and even more specifically Cook County deals. So, unfortunately we're going back to the development world to see who may be interested to redevelop just the police and fire site. And we'll see where that goes."
A major stumbling block, Cassady said, is the need to relocate cellular antennas on the Chase property. That's expected to cost $1 million.
"There is a long-term lease hold for antennas that's owned separately from the real estate," he said.
"We had identified a solution to go to our water tower. But at the end of the day, the leaseholder was not interested, nor were they motivated to try and address the issue," Cassaday said.