Self-storage, three new buildings planned for Palatine shopping center

The Palatine village council has approved a plan for the Park Place Shopping Center that includes an 80,000-square-foot self-storage facility and three new buildings.

The self-storage center would have 100 to 200 climate-controlled units and an associated 2,700-square-foot retail space at 1311 to 1329 N. Rand Road.

The tenant for the self-storage center might be U-Haul or another national storage company, according to the landlord's plan.

U-Haul has a truck rental facility on Dundee Road, next to the shopping center, that will remain in operation, Palatine Director of Planning and Zoning Ben Vyverberg told the council Monday night.

The three new buildings - ranging from 4,800 square feet to 7,500 square feet - would be built on the shopping center's parking area and frontage area along Rand Road. The parking lot won't have as much use from the self-storage storage facility, Vyverberg said.

According to village documents, "While the specific tenants are not yet secured, the application indicates a mix of quick-service or fast casual restaurant, consumer retail, and service oriented tenants."

The portion of the shopping center that will have the self-storage facility used to hold T.J. Maxx and Home Mart Center. It currently holds Maya Dental, which plans to move to a new location within the shopping center.

The plan includes additional parking lot landscaping and an eight-foot wooden fence with landscaping next to the residential area east of the shopping center, Vyverberg said.

The owner of the shopping center is North American Real Estate, whose principal Savas Er told the village's plan commission last month that it's been hard to attract new businesses due to the configuration of the shopping center.

The location for the self-storage is the property that Palatine Township Elementary District 15 had eyed for a new school for more than two years, until the district abandoned the plan in February.

Fizzled plans have included a Walmart Supercenter, LA Fitness, a trampoline park and Edge Fitness, the latter derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Er said. One the positive side, Islas Veracruz opened this year, and Wendy's has purchased the former Famous Dave's building and is expected to present a proposal to the village, he said.