Winfield, CDH reach tentative agreement on redevelopment plan
Winfield has reached a tentative agreement with Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital that would pave the way for a massive redevelopment of the village's Town Center.
Trustees on Thursday night are expected to approve a memorandum of understanding that will be used to draft a development agreement between the village and hospital.
"I feel completely confident that the memorandum of understanding will receive unanimous support by the village board," Village President Erik Spande said Wednesday. "Then we'll be able to move forward with the next pieces."
CDH is proposing to transform part of Town Center south of its campus into a medical and commercial district. To the west of the 392-bed hospital, a proposed parking deck would alleviate parking problems at CDH.
The plan also calls for village hall to be torn down and moved to free space for more development near the Metra station.
Spande said the memorandum of understanding will allow attorneys for Winfield and CDH to work on a development agreement while the village starts the public approval process for "Phase 1A" of the project.
That phase includes construction of the parking deck and a pedestrian bridge over Winfield Road linking the structure to the main campus. In the parking structure, ground floor space would be set aside for an 18,800-square-foot day care facility and a 5,000-square-foot "fast casual" restaurant.
"Going through the public approval process for the first phase before the development agreement is done is highly irregular," Spande said. "But we wanted to make sure we could accommodate an aggressive schedule."
Spande said Northwestern Medicine is hoping to begin construction on the parking deck this fall, "so there's a sense of urgency to get that moving."
Six months after starting construction on the parking deck, Northwestern Medicine would like to begin work on "Phase 1B," which would include construction of a three-story, mixed-use building with retail on the ground floor and medical/office space on the upper two floors. There's also plans for two stand-alone buildings for retail, restaurant or commercial use.
"Phase 1B is the anchor of the Town Center redevelopment," Spande said.
During the village's negotiations with Northwestern Medicine, Spande said, there were compromises on both sides. He said Northwestern Medicine made accommodations on several issues important to the village.
For example, the village will be able to decide if it wants to purchase an existing office building from CDH and convert it into a village hall and police station. The three-story building is on the south side of Jewell Road.
However, the village could decide to acquire another property and build a new village hall.
"So the village will have the option of either building a new village hall or buying an existing office building and rehabbing it," Spande said.
Either way, money for the village hall project would come from revenue generated by a tax increment financing district set to expire in 2028. In a TIF district, property taxes above a certain point are funneled into development rather than to local governments.
The proposed deal also addresses the issue of property taxes. CDH, which is tax-exempt, previously told the village that it wanted to remove a large portion of the development from the tax rolls after a period of time.
Spande said Northwestern Medicine has agreed to keep the parking deck on the tax rolls for 20 years. But it will be able to take the second and third floors of the mixed-use building off the tax rolls immediately.
Overall, Spande said, there will be a large amount of new construction in Town Center. "There's going to be a huge amount of change in our Town Center in the next couple of years."