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Lombard agrees to sell downtown land for redevelopment

A proposal to build a $31 million mixed-use development on a long-vacant property in downtown Lombard has taken another step forward.

Trustees on Thursday approved a redevelopment agreement with Holladay Properties that paves the way for the Indiana-based real estate firm to buy the site along South Main Street from the village for $1.5 million.

Before the sale can be finalized, Holladay needs formal approval from Lombard to construct two buildings on the property.

The first is a four-story structure with up to 120 luxury apartments and 3,000 to 4,000 square feet of commercial space, possibly a restaurant, on the ground floor. A second 12,000-square-foot building would house Prairie Food Co-op.

The village's plan commission is expected to begin its review of the project this summer.

T. Drew Mitchell, a partner and vice president of development with Holladay, said the company is looking forward to presenting its proposal to the commission.

"We're really excited," Mitchell said. "We're barreling toward getting a shovel in the ground."

If the project is built, the developer would receive economic incentives, including up to $525,000 in tax increment financing assistance through Dec. 31, 2024.

Before it became vacant, the land was the site of the former DuPage Theatre.

The land was donated to the village in 1999, and the theater that stood there was demolished in May 2007. Nothing happened with the property after the theater was razed because of the economic downturn.

Trustees initially said they wanted a grocery store on the 2.19-acre site, which has a commuter parking lot sandwiched between two fields.

But no one responded in 2017 when Lombard sought proposals for a grocery store. So the village made another request for proposals that was more open-ended. Four proposals were submitted last April.

A village committee spent months reviewing plans before recommending Holladay as the preferred developer.

"For me, it's been four years of work," said Trustee Bill Johnston, who attended his last board meeting Thursday after losing his re-election bid. "The 101-109 South Main property was big on my mind. It needed to have something happen to it."

Johnston said he believes Holladay's project would be "a catalyst" for downtown because roughly 200 people, many of them young professionals and empty-nesters, are expected to live in the apartment building.

Prairie Food Co-op, meanwhile, would meet the need for a downtown grocery store.

If the project is approved, construction could start late this year or early next year. The work is expected to take 18 months.

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