Mundelein approves plan for subdivision on site that sparked legal battle
Final plans for a sprawling residential subdivision on Mundelein's northwest side have received approval from the village board.
Pulte Homes plans to build 192 single-family houses on a roughly 98-acre site near the northwest corner of Route 60/83 and Route 176. That's five more homes than were in the preliminary plan approved by the board last year.
Additionally, more than six acres of the undeveloped site will be donated to the Mundelein Park District for a future park, documents indicate.
The subdivision is set to be called Sheldon Woods.
The development site has a memorable history.
Mundelein annexed the land in 2005 at the behest of a different developer, the Rubloff Development Group. The company wanted to build a shopping center for a Walmart store, a Menards store and other retailers.
However, residents in the nearby Ivanhoe neighborhood sued the village and Rubloff in 2007 to stop the project, and the plan eventually collapsed.
Rubloff subsequently filed its own lawsuit against SuperValu, Jewel-Osco's parent company, saying it was behind the effort to stop the project and used unscrupulous methods to scuttle it. A federal judge threw out that lawsuit.
The land has since been rezoned for residential development, and Pulte has a contract to buy the property.
During a public review of the plan last year, Pulte attorney Vince Rosanova said the homes would range in size from 1,700 square feet to 3,900 square feet. Prices could start at more than $300,000 and exceed $500,000, he said.
Rosanova has said Pulte hopes to have the first houses ready for occupancy in spring 2022.
The land currently is part of a trust. Three acres at Schank Avenue and Route 60 will be retained by the current owner for a future commercial project, documents indicate.
The village board unanimously approved the final subdivision plan without discussion.
Pulte also has reached an agreement with the neighboring Ivanhoe Club regarding a proposed net that would protect some of the houses from balls coming from the club's driving range. The club is west of the property in an unincorporated area of Lake County.
Pulte will install a tall net on its side of the property line to keep errant drives away from those homes, Ivanhoe Club attorney Keith Hunt said, and the club will move a target green. The Ivanhoe Club will add landscaping on its side of the net, too, Hunt said.