Northbrook Court redevelopment plan progresses

The Northbrook village board recently approved a nonbinding agreement with Brookfield Properties for the redevelopment of Northbrook Court, 1515 Lake-Cook Road.

Brookfield Properties' preliminary master plan included an open-air retail center of new shops and restaurants and a mixed-use residential neighborhood that over a 10-year redevelopment plan could house up to 2,000 residences of varying type - apartments, a 55-plus community, condominiums, rentals and townhouses.

A zoning exhibit included in the May 23 board meeting materials indicated the possibility of 12-story residential buildings up to a maximum building height of 135 feet.

Northbrook and Brookfield, the shopping mall's owner since 1995, in 2019 established a public-private partnership whose efforts never materialized due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That agreement pertained to about 18 acres of the property. The new agreement addresses 97.2 acres, nearly all of the 105.4-acre plot.

Brookfield also proposed to donate around an acre of the property for village use as a fire station. This is a priority for Northbrook, and had been considered as part of Erickson Senior Living's plan for the former Green Acres Country Club.

Erickson announced last month it was abandoning its plan for a continued care retirement community at the Green Acres site.

Brookfield estimated the cost of Northbrook Court redevelopment to be $750 million. It hopes to start constructing retail spaces in 2024 with openings in 2025, and residential components to follow in phases.

This "special additional step," as Village Attorney Steve Elrod described the predevelopment agreement, earned an unsurprising unanimous approval from the six trustees and Village President Kathryn Ciesla.

Brookfield estimated a $90 million gap between the cost of construction and the cost of materials and is seeking public funding to cover it. Under the predevelopment agreement the gap would be handled with new sales taxes generated by the development, new business district sales taxes and the establishment of a tax incentive financing district (TIF).

As part of its consent agenda, trustees also approved a resolution for consultant Michio Murakishi to conduct a feasibility study for a TIF as well as a business district for the 47-year-old Northbrook Court. That is expected to take about three months.

A binding redevelopment agreement with Brookfield Properties is sought by Sept. 12. It is anticipated on or about June 9 a draft TIF plan and eligibility study will be available for review on the village website, northbrook.il.us.

Also, at next Tuesday's village board meeting, trustees will review of a preliminary plan application for the Northbrook Court redevelopment proposal and provide feedback.

The village conducted an open house about the development Wednesday and another will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday at the former Sur La Table store in the upper level of Northbrook Court.

Sanders Court

Also at the May 23 meeting, trustees heard a preliminary request for a 50,000-square-foot Vasa Fitness facility in Sanders Court at 4125 Dundee Road.

In her January State of the Village address, Ciesla said the village was "working very hard to get (Sanders Court) turned around."

Filling a former Dominick's grocery store that has been vacant for around seven years would help. Earlier this year, Noggin Builders earned a special permit to go into a portion of Sanders Court.

"With the exception of Zumba," Trustee Bob Israel said of the Vasa business, "I'm on board."