New development to replace former liquor store, gas station in Palatine
Palatine village council members have approved a convenience store and medical facility as part of a development on five adjoining parcels with vacant structures near a prominent intersection.
Attorney Jerome Pinderski Jr. said a 7-11 selling more than the usual snacks and Slurpees will replace a shuttered Mobil gasoline station and an adjacent, vacant commercial building around the northeast corner of Northwest Highway and Palatine Road. The Mobil closed in August 2018 after a car crashed into some pumps.
"This is going to be a new store that you have not seen before," Pinderski said before the village council approved the project this week. "It's going to be something that they're very excited about bringing to this community. It's bigger. The internal offerings will be much larger from what you've seen in a regular 7-11."
As part of the Vequity Holdings development, a Physicians Immediate Care medical office building will replace the former Teddy's Liquors off Northwest Highway directly north of the 7-11. In all, the medical facility and new 7-11 will cover about 1½ acres with the five combined small parcels.
Under the plan, the 7-11 will offer household products, freshly made sandwiches, pastries and possibly fruit and produce, along with the usual snacks in a 3,000-square-foot building that will replace the damaged Mobil station. There also will be a 7-11 gasoline station and a car wash, which drew concerns about noise from Councilman Brad Helms.
Village Manager Reid Ottesen said the approval granted for the 7-11 will hold Vequity accountable for any excess noise that travels to a residential neighborhood just to the east. He said Vequity's exhibit presented to the village council shows the 7-11 car wash won't exceed 50 or so decibels, which is considered ambient noise.
"If they can't hit those (quiet decibel) levels, then the car wash just closes and we work with them," Ottesen said.
Ottesen said a professional decibel measurement will done at residential lot lines when a nearby Shell car wash is not running south of Palatine Road and Northwest Highway, before a building permit is issued for the 7-11 across the street. The Shell is not required to meet a noise standard, officials acknowledged.
Ivan Nockov, director of development and construction for Chicago-based Vequity, stressed the 7-11's car wash doors will be closed when operating and the noise will not exceed what the homeowners hear from the Shell.
As for Physicians Immediate Care, the new building will cover about 4,500 square feet after Teddy's Liquors is razed. The company projects about 24 employees for its urgent medical care and occupational health services.