Glenview board approves 6th extension for closing on former hardware store site
The Glenview village board recently approved a sixth extension of The Drake Group's closing date on the former Bess Hardware site.
The sixth amendment to the purchase-and-sale agreement of 1850 Glenview Road pushes the closing to Sept. 29 from July 31.
The Drake Group wants to build a five-story, 65-unit, mixed-use building with 5,200 square feet of first-floor retail space - up from a previously planned 2,200 square feet the developer sought in May - on the .927-acre site.
Drake again asked for more time to finalize financing of the development and to close on the sale.
Bess Hardware closed in 2010 and the village purchased the property in 2017. The store was demolished in December 2020 after sitting vacant for a decade. The initial purchase-and-sale agreement with The Drake Group came in June 2018.
On May 2, the Glenview village board voted 5-1 to pass a fifth extension. Trustee Mary Cooper, the sole trustee seated on the board when the process began, voted against it. She opposed the project's height, density, and how close it was to the street.
At that meeting, many public speakers favored the project, but trustee frustrations started to creep in.
Despite a unanimous board vote at the 20-minute meeting last Thursday to approve the sixth extension, frustrations were more pronounced.
Trustee Adam Sidoti indicated this would be the last time he'd support an extension of the purchase-and-sale agreement. Skeptical that a sixth amendment would be the last, Sidoti said he "expects more" of a development partner.
Trustee Gina DeBoni agreed.
Trustee Tim Doron stressed the importance of the project to help anchor downtown development. That's the reason Cooper, long dissatisfied with the project, switched her vote.
"I feel pretty strongly that this will help get the downtown fixed," she said.
Only two members of the public spoke before the board.
"One might anticipate, given the history, (the matter) will be here again in 60 days," said Gerald Barry.
Paul Brancky, who campaigned for a trustee position with the Glenview Next party in 2021, questioned whether The Drake Group was operating in good faith. He also wondered what would happen should the deal actually close.
Brancky suggested the project should go to the village's New Development Commission where it's "reviewed by a group of people who are my neighbors, who are engineers and landscape architects and qualified to catch the final details of the project."
Village President Mike Jenny seemed to accept that proposal.
"Irrespective of what happens over the next 60 days, I would expect that the impacted neighbors would have a seat at the table no matter what," he said.