Developer Presents Plan for Former Oak Creek Plaza Site
At a recent Mundelein board meeting, the trustees heard a concept presentation from national home builder and developer D.R. Horton on a proposed 36.3-acre redevelopment project for the former Oak Creek Plaza shopping center site located near the southeast corner of Lake Street and Townline Road.
D.R. Horton proposed a mixed residential development that incorporates 16 small-lot, single-family homes and 175 townhouse units. As part of the development, D.R. Horton proposes to relocate the parking for X-Factor Trampoline by dedicating 2 acres of land south of the business.
“Oak Creek Plaza has been Mundelein's greatest redevelopment challenge for many years," Mayor Steve Lentz said. "We are very pleased with D.R. Horton's initial concept and we very much look forward to working with them. They did a great job with the Lakeridge Townhome development in Mundelein and trust they will do a great job with this proposed development. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with them again.”
According to the developer, the commercial outlots along Townline Road will remain unchanged, and will retain their current zoning and ownership. Other details of the proposed plan include the creek area on the west end of the site will be preserved, with a walking trail installed along the east side of the creek. A 0.4-acre park in the center of the development is proposed. A 1.7-acre detention pond is proposed directly west of the development.
The current Comprehensive Plan (2011) recommends a land use of “General Commercial” for the Oak Creek site. However, the village is in the process of adopting an amended Comprehensive Plan this year which reevaluates the economic viability of additional large-scale commercial development within the village. The new Comprehensive Plan is slated to be adopted prior to projected final approval of the proposed development, so it would be appropriate to refer to the draft Comprehensive Plan Update (2020), which features a Future Land Use Plan that scales back the amount of land designated for retail development to more sustainable level. The creation of additional households is expected to help support existing retail. For this reason, the plan currently recommends flexibility in land use for this particular site.
This recommendation was advised by direction received from an Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Panel for the Townline Road corridor, which placed a strong focus on the Oak Creek site. The TAP program brings together a group of volunteers with expertise in planning, design, market assessment, and economic development to evaluate an area and develop a set of recommendations. During this process, the panel reviewed study area materials, toured the area, and conducted stakeholder interviews. A series of recommendations was presented to the community at a public presentation on June 11, 2018. The panel concluded that in the Townline Road area, efforts should be taken to “right-size” retail to reflect today's economic climate, which may require phasing out of overextended commercial land uses. The report also recommended finding areas within the study area to introduce additional residential and industrial flex uses into the corridor.
For details, visit www.mundelein.org.