Northbrook to enter purchase and sale agreement for Grainger property
The Northbrook board of trustees passed an ordinance approving a purchase and sale agreement for the property at 1657 Shermer Road, otherwise known as the Grainger site.
Tuesday's 5-0 vote by trustees would sell the 10.3-acre plot to Lennar Multifamily Communities for $10.5 million, without incentives. The village purchased the property from Grainger on May 9, 2018, for $8 million.
A description of the ordinance stated closing could occur by the end of 2022 following completion of the village Plan Commission's public hearing process and its recommendation to the village board, the board's decision on zoning applications, and expiration of an appeal period.
The contract contains an inspection period by Lennar through Aug. 9 and a zoning approvals period through Dec. 13, village attorney Steve Elrod said.
The former Grainger property was marketed by Cushman & Wakefield, which was contracted by the village last September and will be due a $288,750 commission on closing. Elrod said there were "numerous proposals" for the property before negotiations began with Lennar. The village announced its negotiations with Lennar on April 26.
"A real thank-you to Lennar and those other entities that placed bids and worked with us," said Northbrook President Kathryn Ciesla. "We really appreciate all the interest in the community, and I anticipate this is going to be a great development, a mix of residential and retail. It'll expand our downtown, and I think be an attractive gateway to the downtown."
The purchaser's plan is to construct an "approximate" five-story, mixed-use development on 8.8 acres. It would build 335 luxury apartments, including 5 affordable units, a 500-stall parking structure and a retail parcel of about 6,500 square feet with off-street parking for 60 cars. Lennar would like a restaurant in that retail spot, along Shermer Road, Elrod said.
To comply with Northbrook's affordable housing requirements Lennar will donate about 1.5 acres of the property to nonprofit developer Housing Opportunities Development Corporation for 45 "supportive" housing units, affordable housing for people with developmental or intellectual disabilities.
The 50 total affordable units meshes with the 15% requirement, or a fee in lieu, of the village's Affordable Housing Ordinance of Dec. 8, 2020.
Elrod explained that if Housing Opportunities is unable to secure financing, the 1.5 acres would revert to Northbrook ownership.
Both Lennar and Housing Opportunities will submit applications for zoning approvals later this spring or summer.
Trustee Dan Pepoon thanked Elrod for his work on behalf of the village: "This is terrific. I'm so proud."
The village purchased the property in 2018 with the thought of relocating the Metra train station to that site from 1401 Shermer Road to lessen stalled traffic caused by trains. Subsequently, the village outlined in its brief on Tuesday, both the village and Metra abandoned that idea when both came to believe a move might increase traffic on Techny Road, to the south, and on Shermer.
The property has since been employed for a variety of uses, including a COVID-19 vaccination site. Maintaining the structure has cost the village nearly $1.5 million.
Elrod said when Northbrook purchased the site from Grainger the village examined the site and found environmental contamination. Elrod said the purchase and sale contract has Lennar assuming "all responsibility and risk of that environmental contamination."
After the unanimous approval the village's senior trustee, Bob Israel, noted Northbrook's journey with the Grainger site.
"I would like to thank President Ciesla, and before you, President (Sandy) Frum," he said. "The board had the initiative way ahead of time to try to take this property and direct our own future. We had a number of issues that we were facing with this property at the time, and we elected to take what was then viewed as a risk. We took it, having a level of confidence that it would work out OK, and then the pandemic happened.
"It has been a contentious issue for several years now, but it does bode well that your faith in this institution has panned out well for the village. It doesn't always happen that way, and we're well aware of that," Israel said.
"But we believe that we have served in the best interest of the village and the community in doing this and taking this bull by the horns a few years ago, and doing good things. And we expect a lot of good things out of this development with Lennar."