Glen Ellyn unveils plans for downtown apartment building at McChesney & Miller property
Glen Ellyn officials have unveiled plans for the redevelopment of the former McChesney & Miller grocery store downtown.
South Bend, Indiana-based Holladay Properties is proposing a five- to six-story apartment building at the northwest corner of Crescent Boulevard and Glenwood Avenue.
Holladay has a contract to buy the McChesney site more than six months after another development team put the property up for sale with a listing price of $3 million.
The apartment building would contain 86 units and about 1,000 square feet of restaurant or retail space. An enclosed, two-level parking garage would provide 105 residential spaces.
Chicago firm Tandem Architecture is working on the project to create a new “architectural and visual focal point” at a downtown gateway, Holladay vice presidents Michael O'Connor and T. Drew Mitchell wrote in a letter to the village.
“We are confident that our proposed development, to be located at the heart of Glen Ellyn's vibrant downtown district, will be a catalyst to transform the north side of the downtown into a thriving, walkable, urban living environment attracting both new and existing residents to live, work and play in downtown Glen Ellyn,” O'Connor and Mitchell wrote.
The village's plan commission is tentatively set to give initial feedback on conceptual plans Thursday, May 14. The village has released preliminary renderings and floor plans on a project website.
“We're just starting to meet with them, but we're hopeful that it's meeting the vision of the community and the village board,” Village Manager Mark Franz said last week.
Holladay also could seek tax incentives to offset the costs of land acquisition, the parking deck, utility relocations and infrastructure.
In Lombard, Holladay gained village approval in December for a development at the long-dormant site of the old DuPage Theatre. One building would contain 118 apartments and 3,000 to 4,000 square feet of commercial space, possibly for a restaurant, on the ground floor.
A grocery store run by Prairie Food Co-op would occupy a second, 10,000-square-foot building at the southeast corner of East Parkside Avenue and South Main Street. The village has used the site as a Metra commuter parking lot after the iconic movie palace was torn down in 2007.
Construction is expected to begin in fall 2020.
The McChesney property has stood vacant since the downtown grocery closed in October 2014 after more than 150 years in business.