New development coming to Lake Zurich's downtown courtesy of flower shop
The couple behind Lake Zurich Florist received approval from village leaders to purchase village-owned land downtown on South Old Rand Road and build a two-story mixed-use building.
The building will be built between Offbeat Music Store and Blue Fence Real Estate on South Old Rand Road on a vacant village-owned lot referred to as "Block D."
Matthew and Anping Lovejoy plan to move their flower business currently located at 34 E Main St. into the building when it is finished.
Besides Lake Zurich Florist, there will be enough room to house one to three other commercial tenants on the first floor of the building. There will be four apartments on the second floor: two one-bedroom units and two two-bedroom units.
The plan calls for the couple to pay $225,000 to the village for the property primarily through property taxes. They will pay the village $100,000 up front and, once the full amount is paid off, they will recoup their $100,000. The Lovejoys' attorney Joe Menges said the property taxes should come in at around $50,000 per year.
The village board unanimously approved the plan at a meeting Monday night.
Village President Thomas Poynton said the village staff and the Lovejoys worked tirelessly to get the deal done.
Menges said they were not able to announce the other commercial tenants yet, but the couple still desired to lease space to other companies who provide wedding services to create a one-stop wedding supply location.
"They are trying to create a Lake Zurich wedding destination," Menges said. "It is good to have that synergy there."
Village trustees praised the plan. Trustee Marc Spacone said, at this point, anything that allowed vacant village-owned properties to return to the tax rolls was significant.
"Positive revenue is better than zero revenue," Spacone said.
Block D is one of several village-owned parcels in the downtown area acquired around the time of the Great Recession. The village spent about $16 million on property, hoping officials could more successfully market the parcels for redevelopment than the sites' owners.