'A legacy project': Plans for massive development of homes, shops, parks more unveiled in Mundelein
Houses, townhouses and other multifamily buildings, shops and athletic fields are just some of the elements proposed for a sprawling development on land owned by the famed Wirtz family on Mundelein's northwest side.
Pocket parks, community buildings, a village center, light industrial buildings, pedestrian-friendly roads and equestrian trails are among the other features planned for the proposed Ivanhoe Village development.
A school could even be built on the roughly 800-acre site, most of which is north of Route 60 and northwest of Route 83. Some of the land is south of Route 60.
The Wirtzes - owners of the Chicago Blackhawks and the United Center, among other businesses - would steward the project during construction, a process that could take 25 years, attorney Bruce Goldsmith told the village board during a lengthy presentation Monday.
The Wirtz-owned Ivanhoe Nursery & Farms, which has operated on the site for more than 160 years, would remain, Goldsmith said.
"This is a legacy project for the Wirtz family," he said. "They're not leaving the area. They're not leaving the farm."
After the presentation, the village board agreed to annex the land into Mundelein.
The property has been owned by the Wirtzes since the 1850s. In addition to the farm, a large house and other buildings are there.
The annexation agreement approved Monday covered 740 acres, but officials said more is expected to come.
Goldsmith called Ivanhoe Village an example of a design movement called New Urbanism. Well-known examples include Celebration, Florida, and Prospect New Town, Colorado.
It would be the first large-scale New Urbanist development in Illinois, officials said.
The residential component of the project would be significant.
About 1,200 single-family houses, 600 townhouses and 800 other multifamily units would be built, said Marina Khoury, a partner with DPZ CoDesign and a member of the development team. She participated over video.
Six hundred age-targeted residential units are planned, too, Khoury said.
The development would be built in stages. The village center and the first homes could be ready in 2025, Goldsmith said.
Several trustees and Mayor Steve Lentz praised the plan after Goldsmith and Khoury finished their presentation.
Lentz thanked the Wirtzes for approaching Mundelein with the Ivanhoe Village concept. He was also thrilled the family is staying involved in the project.
"They could have taken all this land and sold it off to a national homebuilder ... and just taken off and not been part of it," Lentz said. "But that's not what they did."