Suburb's Uptown Vision Approaches Take-Off

She could begin making serious call-backs some time this year. The city council next week is expected to refer the "Uptown Planning Study" prepared by urban planning consultants Trkla, Pettigrew, Allen & Payne to the planning and zoning commission, which could give its blessing as early as next month.

The vision for the area around this suburb's Metra commuter rail station already has been the subject of day-long "open houses" and public hearings, resulting in some "tweaking" of the consultants' recommendations.

"It was kind of emphasizing the need to maintain and preserve the small-town character of Park Ridge," explains Tom Payne of the planning firm. "But we want to accommodate the new investment (Uptown) will need in the future."

While book retailers Borders and Barnes & Noble have checked in with their interest, retail redevelopers are waiting to see how the city's library, which has a prominent spot at 20 S. Prospect Ave. in the heart of Uptown, Curcio believes. While the library's new home could be in the full block just north of the Metra station, that area is the preferred area for retail developers, she explains.

Given the site's location – suburban on the edge of the city's Northwest Side – it could be as highly coveted as Chicago's Block 37. In addition to possessing affluent retail demographics, Park Ridge has not seen major development in many years, and it has not caught the Downtown redevelopment bug as its neighbors further up the Northwest Line such as Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights and Palatine.

While the city knows it can learn a few lessons from Des Plaines' redevelopment project centered around its new library, there are a few more pieces to the Uptown puzzle.

The Uptown Planning Study provides possible blueprints for up to 20 years, with a possible investment – mostly from the private sector – estimated at more than $100 million. Among the first steps to be taken could be redeveloping a car dealership and city-owned reservoir into a mixed-use retail and multifamily project. Other "target areas" in the study include the "Triangle Block" at Touhy Avenue and Northwest Highway, which includes a Bank One office facility; and the "Southwest Sector."

Assistant city manager Julianna Maller tells GlobeSt.com she is hopeful the planning and zoning commission will need one meeting to make its recommendation, given members also have been involved in the numerous public hearings. Curcio adds she would not be surprised if the city uses a request for proposals to solicit presentations from master developers later this summer.

Meanwhile, Payne tells GlobeSt.com Trkla, Pettigrew, Allen & Payne is in the early stages of Downtown plans in west suburban Elmhurst and north suburban Morton Grove, two villages on Metra lines.