Demolition underway at two former Buffalo Grove shopping centers

Demolition is underway at two Buffalo Grove shopping centers long targeted for redevelopment - the Town Center and Cambridge Commons.

Resembling a plow clearing snow from a sidewalk, a machine was tearing up asphalt Tuesday morning in the parking lot of the Town Center at Lake-Cook and McHenry roads, soon to be redeveloped as The Clove.

The discarded material was piled at various spots within the confines of a fence marking the area slated for the demolition of the portion of the Town Center south of Old Checker Road. In its place a new development will stand, including a seven-story building comprising a mix of luxury apartments and ground-floor retail.

Some of the businesses displaced by the demolition either have moved or will be moving to other parts of the village. Sushi Grove will move to the north side of Old Checker Road to occupy one of the spaces at the old Town Center that will be renovated for The Clove. Hyderabad House is relocating to the old home of Countyline Tavern at 800 W. Lake-Cook Road. Jimmy John's has moved to the new Ricky Rockets fuel Center at 700 E. Lake-Cook Road.

Burger King and Boston Market, located on outlots that the redevelopment will not touch, were open for business.

Down the road from the Town Center, at the southeast corner of Dundee and Buffalo Grove roads, a fence surrounded the teardown site at the former Cambridge Commons shopping center, long considered a civic eyesore.

Buffalo Grove Deputy Village Manager Chris Stilling said demolition was scheduled to begin this week.

It remains to be seen what the future for Cambridge Commons will be.

"There are no immediate plans for Cambridge Commons yet," he said. The property is owned by Svigos Asset Management Inc.

"We've been working with them on some ideas, but that building is uninhabitable and so it has to come down," Stilling said. "Ideally, we want to see a retail development there."

There has been interest for retail development, but the parties are still in negotiations, he added.