Charles Schwab branch proposed for former Bar Louie site near Woodfield
Schaumburg officials Tuesday will consider plans for a Charles Schwab financial services branch on the site of the closed Bar Louie restaurant at the prominent southeast corner of Golf and Meacham roads, near Woodfield Mall.
Under the proposal, the current 8,000-square-foot building - sought last year as the location of a recreational marijuana dispensary - would be demolished and replaced with a new, 7,000-square-foot Charles Schwab building.
The new office at 1160 Plaza Drive would replace an existing Schwab location at 1700 E. Golf Road on or before Dec. 1, when the latter's lease expires.
"Charles Schwab is looking for more visible locations," Schaumburg Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald said. "This move seems in keeping with what the company is looking for."
The new site is expected to house about 14 financial advisers who will offer commercial banking, stock brokerage and wealth management services to retail and institutional clients.
The southeast corner of Golf and Meacham also includes the former Chevys Fresh Mex restaurant at 1180 Plaza Drive and former Panera Bread at 1140 Plaza Drive.
At the property owners' request, village officials last year rezoned the 3.7-acre site to permit more than the restaurants and small office buildings previously allowed there. However, neither the proposed Charles Schwab building nor the Shabu-You Japanese restaurant being developed within the former Chevys require the rezoning, Fitzgerald said.
Property owners told village staff they are also in talks with two groups to potentially replace the former Panera.
Shabu-You, expected to open in the near future, remains on track to be the first U.S. restaurant of the Japan-based Skylark Group, which operates more than 3,000 locations elsewhere. The approximately 8,400-square-foot restaurant would specialize in the traditional Japanese dish of shabu shabu, which consists of thinly sliced meat and bite-sized vegetables cooked in a hot broth.
Village trustees are scheduled to vote on the proposed Charles Schwab building at 7 p.m. Tuesday at village hall.