Town Center redevelopment plan unveiled

         The Buffalo Grove Village Board will consider a “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)” with developers that would likely clear the way for redevelopment of Town Center.

The village made the announcement in a press release late Thursday afternoon.

Overview of proposed redevelopment

The 20-acre site would be redeveloped in multiple phases by Kensington Development Partners into a modern central entertainment and residential district anchored by a national grocery store, retail shops, a park, restaurants and luxury multi-family residential housing. The plan includes 65,000 square feet of retail space with a total project cost of $150 million.

According to the release, Kensington is under contract to purchase the property and proposes two phases of redevelopment. The first phase includes the southern and central sections of the site with a new 37,500-square-foot “nationally renowned” grocery store with an innovative format to meet the demands of today’s consumers. No specific store was identified.

A "nationally known" grocery store is
part of the redevelopment plans.

Plans call for a 7-story, 275- to 300-unit high-end apartment building with 18,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor to be built north of the grocery store.

Overall, Phase 1 features more than 65,000 square feet of retail and restaurants scattered throughout the site, including multiple outlots. Kensington is currently negotiating a lease with Guzman Y Gomez Mexican Restaurant to occupy one of the new outlots.

Guzman y Gomez is an Australian casual-dining restaurant chain that also operates internationally. Outside one unit in the United States, located in Naperville, the firm’s greatest concentration of restaurants is in Australia, Japan and Singapore.

            According to a memo to Village Trustees, Village Manager Dane Bragg noted that “At this time, Kensington just has a contract to purchase the Town Center property. The existing Boston Market, Burger King and Bowlero are not part of the redevelopment concept as they are

separately owned parcels.”

Under the terms of the MOU, Kensington will pursue Phase 2 within five years of the construction of Phase 1.

The process first began with the Lake-Cook Corridor Plan adopted in 2018. A Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, was established in 2020. Kensington went under contract with the Town Center owners to purchase the property, and with the Village, in July 2020, and has been refining the plan and negotiating a public-private partnership since that time.

The MOU specifies Kensington’s obligation to purchase and redevelop the property, per the agreed upon vision. In doing so, the Village will provide eligible TIF funds and 50-percent of the new sales tax growth in an amount not to exceed $24.75 million.

“The agreement with Kensington creates a catalyst for the ongoing redevelopment of the Lake Cook Road corridor and delivers a much-needed gathering place for our community,” Bragg says.

If the MOU is approved, Kensington will proceed with finalizing their plans and enter into a formal redevelopment agreement with the Village. Construction is anticipated to start in the summer of 2022.


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Buffalo Grove News and Info, is independently produced by Buffalo Grove resident Stan Zoller. A longtime journalist and journalism educator, Zoller covers Buffalo Grove and monitors news and information about the village, its schools, park district and community events. Buffalo Grove News and Information is not affiliated with any municipal body.

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