Schaumburg rezones annexed eyesore site at northeast gateway
Schaumburg has taken a major step toward the rehabilitation of the village's northeast gateway on Algonquin Road with the annexation and rezoning of the neglected property there it bought in January.
Late last month, Clear Channel removed the soon to be non-compliant billboard above the third of an acre site at 1580 E. Algonquin Road.
Village officials are applying for Cook County permits to demolish the crumbling Frankly Yours hot-dog stand and decommission the well on the site within the next few months.
County permits are still required for such work even though the land is now in the village, Schaumburg Economic Development Director Matt Frank explained.
Two weeks ago, the village board voted to annex the site that was purchased six months earlier for $700,000.
But because annexations of 5 acres or less are automatically zoned for residential use, trustees rezoned the land for business use on Tuesday.
A detailed discussion on the future use of the site still awaits, but it will default to green space in the meantime once the building and the well have been addressed, Frank said.
Mayor Tom Dailly has said he prefers a Schaumburg gateway sign right at the corner. But the remainder of the site and its potential for a complementary commercial use have yet to be considered.
The northeast corner of Schaumburg, near the intersection of Algonquin and Meacham roads, has seen significant redevelopment over the past two decades. It's the home of the Schaumburg Convention Center, Zurich North America, the mixed-use Veridian development, and a forthcoming entertainment district.
Dailly said the village wanted for years to acquire and clean up the northwest corner of Algonquin Road and Thorntree Lane for that very reason.
But those efforts ramped up last summer. Contact with the previously hard-to-find property owner was made in the fall, a deal was struck just before Christmas, and the closing occurred the following month.