Visions For Downtown Include Redesigned Meadow Plaza, Parking Garage At Metra

Spruced up storefronts on Meadow Road, a pond behind the library and a parking garage at the are among the visions for a redeveloped downtown Northbrook that were presented at a public meeting Thursday.

Sketched in colored marking on tracing paper, the designs were the result of a weeklong intensive planning process spearheaded by the consulting firm Teska Associates and funded by . 

“This is sort of our dream, hopefully, our community dream of what the downtown will look like,” said Village President Sandra Frum.

with a public meeting at Monday, Oct. 17, followed by more meetings and brainstorming with residents, business owners, property owners, developers and village staff to gather input on what people want to see downtown—and on what is actually feasible. Ultimately, more than a dozen different ideas were sketched for several specific areas of downtown.

“We don’t have one answer, there’s a variety of answers,” said Scott Goldstein, principal with Teska, before explaining the many different visions in detail.

Vacant Stores on Meadow Could Present Biggest Challenge 

One of the concerns Teska heard about most frequently was the appearance of the  shopping center on Meadow Road, according to Goldstein. Residents are unhappy about the fact that dumpsters and back lots, rather than storefronts, face Meadow Road, and about the continued vacancy of the former Walgreens and Blockbuster stores.

“It could be a terrific public space,” said resident Todd Speed, who often walks past the vacant storefronts. “At the moment, it’s something bordering on neglect.”

Developing the former Walgreens property is complicated by the fact that Walgreens has paid its lease through 2024, however. 

“From the landlord’s perspective, he has no economic incentive,” explained Goldstein. “Why would he fix up the Walgreens when it’s essentially a leased space?

Goldstein suggested that the village might have to get involved, perhaps in the form of tax-increment financing to help support smaller businesses or an arts center that would buy out the developer.

“We’re trying to think a little bit out of the box,” he said.

Visions for Meadow Plaza run the gamut from simply adding more trees and revamping the look of storefronts to tearing down every building but and building a parking garage/residential structure at the northwest corner. One plan calls for adding a pedestrian path and plants along the north branch of the Chicago River that runs just behind the shopping center on Cherry Lane. In Teska’s vision, property owners would clean up the backs of the buildings—or even put in restaurants with back patios facing the river. 

Parking Garage/Luxury Apartments Considered At Metra Station 

According to Teska’s study, the parking lot at the Metra station is 98 percent occupied on an average day. To alleviate that lack of parking and create more housing options for empty-nesters in the community, the consultants proposed a five-story building combining parking and residential space.

“What this is doing is solving the parking problem at Metra,” Goldstein said.

Of the many proposals Teska put forward for downtown, the idea of a parking garage with luxury apartments was the most popular among developers, according to Bridget Lane, a consultant with Business Districts Inc.

“The market in general right now is really excited about putting luxury rental near the Metra station,” said Lane, who partnered with Teska to study the financial feasibility of the downtown ideas. 

A parking garage would cost the village anywhere from $18,000 to $25,000 per space, depending on the garage’s height and complexity, according to Lane. Sinking it underground would make it even more expensive.

Putting in office space above parking was another idea, but business owners said they preferred to keep shopping on the east side of the Metra tracks, Goldstein said.

Other options for increasing Metra parking include adding angle spaces on Meadow Road or putting more parking in place of the Public Works facility by Northbrook’s old water tower. 

“Shermerville Commons” Proposed Behind Library

At Teska’s first public meeting Monday, Oct. 17, several residents floated the idea of a river walk from Cherry Lane to Walters Avenue. Although village staff ultimately decided that was not feasible—due to issues with crossing the railroad, among other reasons—Teska did come back with some ideas for making parts of the river more accessible. 

Along with one plan that calls for river access behind Meadow Plaza, another proposal calls for turning the ice rink/soccer field behind the into a fully landscaped park with a running track, river path and pond.

The field serves as a soccer practice field now, but park district officials can’t schedule any soccer games there because it’s wet so often, Goldstein said. A pond, however, could provide both storm water retention and an attractive feature for residents.

The consultants also suggested putting in a path so people could walk from the library to the Metra tracks.

“A lot of people do that walk right now,” Goldstein said. “Why not put in an actual trail?”

Next Step: A Single Downtown Development Plan

Over the next several weeks, a steering committee will choose a single plan from among the options Teska presented on Thursday. Ultimately, that plan will be go before the village board for the trustees to vote on.

Beyond redesigning the layout and parking and searching for new tenants or building types in downtown Northbrook, Teska will also help develop guidelines for landscaping and other street-level improvements. Additionally, the consultants will help create a plan for better biking and pedestrian pathways as well as visible entryways to Northbrook’s downtown.

“How does this become a true town center?” Goldstein said. “The big picture is cohesive identity.” 

Residents in attendance said they, too, wanted to see the downtown with a cohesive look and feel—rather than simply a “collection of shopping centers,” as one person put it.

“I want to see a ‘there’ there,” said resident Jennifer Amdur Spitz. “I want to see a place for people to go and feel welcomed.”

All of Teska’s proposals are available for public viewing at http://www.teskaassociates.com/Northbrook/.