Arlington Heights officials give Arlington 425 developers until June to begin work
The developer of the proposed Arlington 425 development now has until next June to get a shovel in the ground while trying to secure financing for the large-scale downtown Arlington Heights project.
Developer Norwood Builders had already sought a one-year extension on the village board's approval that was due to expire in June. But the board granted only a 90-day extension to encourage further discussions among developers of Arlington 425, the Sigwalt 16 townhouse development to the south and ComEd over the possible relocation of overhead utility lines that run through the vacant downtown block.
ComEd has since agreed to relocate the lines, and it won't require an easement from Arlington 425 developers, village officials said.
As such, the board Monday agreed to grant the remaining nine months' worth of extensions on its zoning approvals, whereby the preliminary plat of subdivision would expire June 3, 2021, and the planned unit development would expire June 3, 2022.
Any further extension requests would require the developer to restart its application process with the plan commission and village board.
"The way things are today and moving along with the uncertainty of the financial markets today, no one knows what the future will bring over the period of the next nine months," said project attorney Mike Firsel. "The issue is not only the necessary financing we need, but other issues relating to the interest and developability of the property and the ability to charge rents that we had based our project and income on."
The $150 million redevelopment proposes a three-building residential and commercial campus on the northern three-quarters of the vacant parcel bounded by Campbell Street, Highland Avenue, Sigwalt Street and Chestnut Avenue. It would be the largest development in some two decades in town.
"I would say we do need the entire balance of the year. However, we are working diligently to move this project forward," Firsel said.