HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/02/2002 EDC minutes MINUTES
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
2nd Floor Conference Room, Village Hall
Thursday, May 2, 2002
8:00 a.m.
The meeting of the Economic Development Commission (EDC) of the Village of Mount Prospect was held on
Thursday, May 2, 2002 in the second floor conference room of Village Hall, 100 South Emerson Street, Mount
Prospect, Illinois.
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Norm Kurtz called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. Commissioners Pat Biedar, Brace Gillilan,
David Lindgren, Ben Trapani and Tom Zander were present. Commissioner John Arndt was absent. Also
present were Bill Cooney, Director of Community Development and Susan Mas6, Planner.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the February 7, 2002 meeting were reviewed and approved unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS
Status Update
Mr. Cooney distributed a handout dated April 19 that provided an overall update of many projects in the
Village. Mr. Cooney said that Costco was moving forward with the demolition of the Montgomery Wards
facility at Randhurst and their goal remains to be opened by mid-November of this year. He also informed the
EDC that Kohl's was looking to expand their existing location, likely further into the mall, and that they were
working with Rouse to achieve this. He stated that Applebee's was investigating developing an outlot facility
along Rte. 83 in front of Circuit City. Mr. Cooney then indicated that the 3Corn Building was up for contract
and it would likely be divided among three tenants. The front 1/3 of the building would be utilized for office
uses, the middle 1/3 for manufacturing purposes and the rear 1/3 of the building for warehousing and
distribution. Mr. Cooney also informed the EDC that there was a petition for a 24-unit town home
development at 791 E. Rand Road, immediately north of the Mitchell Buick site. He stated that staffwas
opposed to residential use at this location but that the Village Board had denied a commercial use there last
year. Commissioner Lindgren recused himself from all discussion regarding the subject property. Other
members indicated a strong preference to maintain the commercial integrity of Rand Road and felt that a
residential development at this site would be detrimental to the character of the Rand Road corridor. Mr.
Cooney then reviewed the Mount Prospect Plaza, AutoBam, Fiesta Market and other commercial projects
currently underway in Mount Prospect.
NEW BUSINESS
Downtown Activities
Mr. Cooney provided a brief overview of the status of retail tenants in the downtown area. He stated that The
Comer Bakery was planning on opening their new facility by the middle of June. He stated that there are
several national tenants who were reviewing the site and he was hopeful that the 20,000 s.f. retail eomponent
of this project would be fully leased by mid-summer. There was general discussion regarding the overall status
of the downtown redevelopment efforts. Several members indicated the desire to expand the geographic
boundaries of the downtown, similarly to what Arlington Heights has done. It was stated that the Village
would not necessarily have to actively develop those properties but that a rezoning of some the surrounding
residential areas to commercial would initiate private investment in those areas. There was also discussion
regarding the value of including the Senior Center facility within the New Village Hall project. There was
general consensus that the Seniors in Mount Prospect would be better served by developing a separate location
conomic Development Commission
May 2, 2002 Minutes
Page 2
from the Village Hall development. There was strong belief that the basement of Randhurst would be an ideal
location for the Seniors since many of them currently utilize Randhurst on a regular basis and that this would
also help stimulate additional activities in the Randhurst Mall.
The Commission indicated that, at their next meeting, they would like to discuss the downtown plan further
and discuss the next steps in order to continue the momentum that is currently underway for the downtown
activities.
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
Mr. Kurtz had no comments.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 a.m. The next meeting will be held on June 6, 2002.
Respectfully submitted,
William J. Cooney, Jr., AICP
Director of Community Development
WJC:bhs