Schaumburg greenlights talks with potential entertainment district developer
Schaumburg trustees have given the go-ahead for the village's planned development of an entertainment district at the northeast corner of Meacham Road and the I-90 tollway to take further steps in the weeks ahead.
The village's economic development department was directed to pursue negotiations with Oak Brook-based Kensington Development Partners on an agreement to collaborate on such a project around the existing Renaissance Hotel and Schaumburg Convention Center.
As part of its pitch, Kensington promised to bring two as yet undisclosed entertainment anchors to the development that would draw an expected million visitors a year to the 23-acre site.
And trustees forwarded to the plan commission a proposed $27 million upgrade for the adjacent stretch of Meacham Road that would include a pedestrian bridge connecting the entertainment district to the east to the 225-acre, mixed-use Veridian development on the former Motorola Solutions campus to the west.
The plan commission is scheduled to consider its recommendation on the Meacham Road Corridor Plan on Tuesday, June 16.
As for negotiations with Kensington Development Partners, Schaumburg Economic Development Director Matt Frank said he expects it to take at least two months before there's something for the village board to consider.
The plan for an agreement to collaborate with a developer represents a compromise of the village's original hope to approve a fully formed plan by a developer.
While none of the four firms that responded to Schaumburg's request for proposals presented a plan that strongly reflected the village's own vision, Kensington was considered to be the closest, Frank said.
That included Kensington's smaller plans for a residential component, though it still planned for more units than the village had anticipated, he added.
While the village owns all the land for the project, the aim is to eventually sell most if not all of it to Kensington, Frank said.