In addition to encouraging developers to draw in that resort town character into proposed architecture, signs at the entrances of the Downtown area will be similar to those in a more current Chicago area get-away, Lake Geneva, WI, experts suggest.

"We're trying to create a Downtown that's not going to be another Arlington Heights or Palatine," says Mayor Jim Krischke, referring to two northwest suburbs that have transformed their downtowns with multifamily and retail redevelopment near Metra commuter stations. "We want to create something that's reminiscent of the character of Lake Zurich. This is something that will last for the next 100 years."

Preliminary scenarios by tax increment financing specialists S.B. Freidman & Co. and planners from Burnidge Cassell Associates envision development or redevelopment of 163,400-sf of retail space in the Downtown area, 104,900-sf of office space and 215 multifamily units, many of them condominiums on the floors above retail and office spaces along Main Street and Old Rand Road.

Sketches were solicited on speculation from developers, most of them depicting mixed-use retail and condominium buildings similar to others built in redeveloped downtowns in suburbs around Chicago. While some residents are pleased at the prospect of increased property tax revenue as a result of redevelopment, projections of the payoffs have not been done.

"We have a lot of financial projections to do," says TIF consultant Steve Friedman. "These are ideas. These are not set in stone."

However, village officials know property values declined in the Downtown area by 14% from 1995 to 2001, while the rest of the village saw an increase of 22% during the same time.

A November referendum gives city officials authority to sell up to $10 million bonds to fund improvements in the Downtown area, with the debt being repaid by increased property tax revenue.

The village already is building a pedestrian "promenade" along Main Street, where it runs near the shore of namesake Lake Zurich.

Instant Insights /

Former Resort Town Mapping Redevelopment

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