An upbeat tone prevailed at the May 28 board meeting at Northbrook Village Hall but first came public comment time.
While the former Green Acres Country Club land purchase on May 6 by the DuPage Water Commission (DWC) was not discussed by trustees at the Tuesday evening meeting, one speaker at the podium mentioned Green Acres as an opportunity lost by the village.
Public comment has a policy of allowing three timed minutes to speak with no back-and-forth discussion.
The 127-acre parcel (916 Dundee Road) was sold to the DWC for $80 million, surprising Northbrook officials. The DWC plans to use the land to deliver Lake Michigan water to its one million DuPage County customers.
Another public speaker asked the board to relocate the annual Northbrook Grand Prix to Wood Oaks Green Park in west Northbrook and not keep it around Village Green Park on Shermer Road, Meadow Road, Walters Avenue, and Church Street. Both are Northbrook Park District parks.
Known also as the Intelligentsia Cup, the bicycle series for Northbrook is July 25. This year’s cycling races are already set for downtown, Northbrook Village President Kathryn L. Ciesla confirmed. The speaker, a Northbrook resident of the 1300 block of Church Street, was okay with this being considered for 2025.
The neighbor also advocated for Wood Oaks Green Park as a bigger and safer cycling event venue, possibly accommodating food trucks, live music, and more parking. The village clerk took the person’s name to cycle back.
Northbrook Court update
Then came the President’s Report. If you were wondering why there is no busy first phase outlot construction at Northbrook Court along Lake Cook Road, Ciesla assured residents of, “something exciting.
“Northbrook Court still looks the same but trust me, things are happening,” Ciesla said.
Northbrook Court. Village of Northbrook handout from the Northbrook Village Board of Trustees meeting on May 23, 2023.
Last autumn, the Village granted special mixed-use permits for Northbrook Court via a public/private partnership. The property at 1515 to 1775 Lake Cook Road is nearly 107 acres.
“Brookfield (Properties), the owner and developer, has been working its way through a series of required site plan submittals which were required by the Oct. 30 agreements,” Ciesla said. “They are on track and they are in compliance with those deadlines.
“The submittal is in review by our village staff and consulting engineers,” Ciesla said, “…to ensure connectivity of infrastructure and code compliance.”
Ciesla indicated Northbrook Court redevelopment is a, “really, really big project, lots going on behind the scenes.”
“Bottom line, things are underway, they are complying with the deadlines, with a project of this size, there’s just lots and lots to do, especially putting infrastructure in an area where there are 5,000 parking spaces,” Ciesla said.
“So we are moving forward which is great, good news for everyone,” Ciesla said. “It’s an $825 million investment, almost a billion dollars, so as we all know, it’s not like remodeling your kitchen or putting in a bathroom.
“It is really, really significant.”
Trustee Robert P. Israel said, “This is going to be done in a staged fashion, so there will be parts that will still be operating of the mall while this is undertaken.”
Swingtime at proposed racquet sports facility
Later in the agenda, the board showed delight about a proposed racquet sports facility on nearly three vacant acres at 2985 Shermer Road in an industrial park at Old Willow Road, south of Willow Road.
The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East Diocese of North America currently owns the five combined parcels.
Contract purchaser Kin Sports, LLC proposes a building of approximately 43,000 square feet in a facility offering 13 padel courts (nine inside, four outside for warmer months) plus two indoor pickleball courts. Padel is not “paddle” ball.
“Well, you had me at pickleball,” Trustee Johannah K. Hebl said. “I’m a big fan, sport of the future.
Northbrook Village Trustee Johannah K. Hebl offers a thumbs up to the developer of a proposed racquet sports facility. Taken on the evening of May 28, 2024 at Northbrook Village Hall. (Karie Angell Luc/Pioneer Press)
“I love it,” Hebl said. “It’s just a great sport that you can play with multi-generations. I’m very much in favor of this.”
Trustee Heather E. Ross, chair of the board’s work committee, the Community and Sustainability Committee, suggested the inclusion of solar panel roofing.
Alex Vainberg of River North Chicago, Kin Sports, LLC co-founder, was in the boardroom audience. Ciesla said to Vainberg from the dais, “Alright, listen, we love this.
“Thank you very much for bringing this opportunity to the Village of Northbrook, it’s really exciting,” Ciesla said. “I encourage you to please move forward in the process.”
According to a May 14 letter to the village, “Padel (pronounced padél) is a blend of tennis and squash, played primarily in Europe and Latin America and is rapidly expanding in cities like Miami, New York, Austin, and San Francisco,” Vainberg wrote.
“According to Google Trends, the sport is more popular in the United States than squash, racquetball, platform/paddle tennis, and is globally more popular than pickleball,” Vainberg indicated.
“Currently, the only padel facility in Illinois is in Mundelein, with an additional four courts planned for the newly approved dome renovation project in Highland Park,” Vainberg also wrote.
After the board meeting, Vainberg told Pioneer Press, “It floored me,” to hear such positive board feedback, including the suggestion of a liquor license.
“We’re just very excited,” Vainberg said. “This is why we wanted to come to Northbrook because we know that people are excited.”
Padel, “is making a lot of waves here in the U.S.” with padel being played on, “about the size of a tennis court but you can hit the ball off the wall,” Vainberg added. “It’s a lot of fun to play, you play two on two.”
The padel and pickleball facility proposal moves to the Plan Commission.
“Invite us to the ribbon cutting, please,” Ciesla said to Vainberg.
Waste Management being recycled
Lastly, trustees unanimously passed a resolution for a five-year contract with franchisee Lakeshore Recycling Systems, LLC (LRS), a Delaware limited liability company.
Northbrook residents will sport new containers for recycling or garbage when a refuse and recycling franchise agreement starts Sept. 1 with qualified vendor LRS.
The current six-year contract expires Aug. 31 and began with Advanced Disposal. When Waste Management (WM) purchased Advanced Disposal, Northbrook’s contract was amended and assigned to WM by the village board on Oct. 26, 2021.
WM would not extend the contract for three more years at the current customer billing rate. LRS customers can participate in composting yard waste and food scraps.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
