Mount Prospect backs plan to convert 1970s medical office into apartments

Mount Prospect continues to boost its stock of downtown rental housing options with the recently approved plans to convert a 25,000-square-foot medical office into a 20-unit apartment building.

Located at 500 W. Central Road, just west of the railroad tracks, the project will join several recently completed or under construction apartment projects downtown, including the Maple Street Lofts, 20 West, 10 North Main and the HQ Residences.

The latest project will contain 20 one- and two-bedroom apartments renting for $1,500 to $2,700 per month.

The village board recently voted to rezone the property from limited industrial to central commercial district zoning, to allow for higher density multifamily residential uses. It also allowed a zoning variation to increase the allowable density from 16 to 26 units per acre.

Architect Tom Budzik of Thomas Architects said the property owner has determined that the medical office is no longer viable at that location.

Mount Prospect Community Development Director Bill Cooney said the building's exterior will be refreshed to get away from its current 1970s feel.

"It's a use that we think is more consistent with what demand is in today's world," Cooney said. "Office uses are not very strong at the moment, in Cook County especially."

The village's strategic plan contemplates rezoning the triangular area that includes the office building and the park district's Central Community Center to allow similar developments, Cooney added.

Village trustees' only concern about the change was the plan to allow left turns out of the property onto Central Road.

But Cooney said a traffic study submitted by the petitioner, Mohammed Younus of Project Consulting & Implementation Inc., indicated the change from a residential to an office use would cut traffic generated by the site in half.