advertisement

Rolling Meadows residents critical of plan for ex-Dominick's property

After more than three hours of discussion and questions, South Bay Partners is not much closer to winning the favor of Rolling Meadows residents who are unhappy with a plan for senior housing on the long-vacant Dominick's property along Kirchoff Road.

About 80 people attended Thursday night's public meeting to voice concerns about the project and stress their hope that, against all odds, retail could come back to downtown Rolling Meadows.

Fritz Duda, principal with Clark Street Development - which owns the property - detailed the many ways the company has marketed the 11-acre site to retailers of all shapes and sizes over the past three years with no luck. The site has been empty since Dominick's left in 2004. Meanwhile, retail and traffic counts have moved to busier areas like Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, or even the corner of Golf and Algonquin roads in Rolling Meadows.

"We get the desire for restaurants; we get the desire for retail," Duda said. "It's not going to happen at this location."

The proposed four-story building would have 220 units of independent living starting at $2,750 per month, 45 units of assisted living starting at $4,850 a month, and 20 units for memory care that would cost $7,200 a month. The project would be private-pay and rental-only and not accept Medicare.

Residents' complaints included wanting to keep retail in the city's downtown, concerns about prices being too high for Rolling Meadows seniors and neighbors who don't want to look at the building from their backyards.

"With all due respect, you guys aren't selling me on this," resident Karen Gill said. "This is not right for this spot. It's just not."

Some who attended suggested other ideas for the former Dominick's property, such as the city buying it to create a park and even asking voters via referendum, while developers and market analysts spent the evening fielding questions from an unwavering line of unhappy residents.

"There is a little bit of this that seems flabbergasting to me," said Adam Arnold, principal with South Bay. "This is an option to stay in Rolling Meadows as they age, and there is this pushback."

Of the room, only two residents spoke in favor of the project.

"There's a lot of emotion in the room. It's a very difficult decision and I understand that," Alderman Tim Veenbaas said. "But there are also a lot of numbers in the room. What we have learned is that it is very difficult for restaurants or retail to survive in Rolling Meadows. The facts are what the facts are. My question is, if not this, then what?"

The Rolling Meadows City Council will take a final vote on the South Bay project during its meeting at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 9.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.