Glen Ellyn finds buyer for land at Five Corners intersection
The pending sale of a village-owned property in Glen Ellyn has the blessing of neighbors who blocked construction of a gas station on the undeveloped land.
In a 5-0 vote Monday, the village board agreed to enter into a contract to sell the 1.35-acre tract to a Lombard chiropractor and physical therapist planning to move offices to the site at southeast corner of the busy Five Corners intersection of Main, St. Charles and Geneva roads.
Progressive Physical Medicine has made an all-cash offer of $625,000 to buy the commercial property. The contract will be contingent on a 60-day due diligence period at the buyer's request.
An ad hoc committee led by DuPage County Board member Tim Elliott, a former village trustee, has expressed support for the development of the site as a physical therapy or chiropractic clinic. The committee includes neighbors tasked with giving feedback on the future of the property at the village's northern gateway.
Members opposed leaving it as open space, Elliott said. The committee also wants the board to take a broader approach to re-imagining the gateway, an area encompassing service businesses, the historic Stacy's Tavern Museum and unincorporated properties.
"That area as a whole could be revitalized, and it's going to take something significantly more imaginative than addressing on a parcel-by-parcel basis," Elliott said.
Progressive Physical Medicine intends to construct a single-story building with parking. The village has not yet received building plans.
The deal comes about two months after the village put the long-vacant land back up for sale with a listing price of $650,000. The village first acquired the property nearly a decade ago.
The village was contractually required to repurchase the empty lot from a gas station developer after Protect Glen Ellyn Inc., a group of neighbors, won a lawsuit against Glen Ellyn and True North Energy to quash the project.
The ad committee was unanimous in wanting a "viable, long-term commercial use" for the site, Elliott said, but they did not favor another gas station. Megan Clifford, the president of Protect Glen Ellyn and another committee member, also supports the proposed concept.
"This method of bringing us together, community members in a committee format, was very effective," Clifford said. "We've come a long way."
Trustees in December approved a budget amendment to include the $608,254 cost of buying the site back. The village also hired Polly Berry, a broker with Winner's Edge Corporate Real Estate Services, to market it. Berry will earn a 5% commission when the sale of the land is finalized.
"This particular buyer found it on a listing that normally is not used by our commercial realtors, and that is how this offer came to us," Village President Diane McGinley said.
The village paid $590,000 to purchase the three parcels in September 2010 from a bankruptcy estate. The village then spent at least $90,000 on demolition, remediation and restoration of the site. In an effort to jump-start redevelopment, a smaller, dilapidated gas station that closed there in 2003 was torn down.
In 2013, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued a "no further remediation" letter, restricting the site to commercial or industrial uses.
"At a minimum, a safety plan, should be developed to address possible worker exposure in the event that any future excavation and construction activities may occur within the contaminated soil beneath the remediation site," the IEPA letter stated.
The prospective buyer, his architect and general contractor have all toured the site and reviewed the IEPA letter, according to a village board memo.