What's next for Northbrook Court? Open-air retail, housing proposed

Over the next decade, or however long it takes, Northbrook residents could see a very different Northbrook Court.

Ben Freeman, senior vice president of commercial development for Brookfield Properties, which owns Northbrook Court, presented a preliminary master plan to the Northbrook village board Tuesday.

"Our focus is optimizing tenant mix, appropriately planning and configuring space, and delivering a compelling environment that provides enhanced experiences to drive sales," Freeman said.

Initial phases would create sectors for retail and housing.

Freeman, who said he visited the 47-year-old mall as a boy growing up in Palatine, produced a slide showing an open-air retail center of 30 new shops and restaurants over 255,000 square feet just south of Lake-Cook Road, adjacent to the existing Neiman Marcus store - the sole remaining anchor from the destination's 1976 debut.

Northbrook Court remains Northbrook's top sales tax generator. In her 2023 State of the Village address, Village President Kathryn Ciesla said it contributed $3.1 million in sales taxes in 2022.

Freeman said data indicates people still place "importance on product and experience in brick-and-mortar locations."

The retail space would "celebrate seasonality," he said.

It also would incorporate natural materials, native plants and features that capture stormwater.

The other component of the initial phase would be a residential mixed-use neighborhood starting at the now-demolished Macy's site on the west side of the mall and fanning out to two full parking lots and parts of two others, eliminating some of Northbrook Court's 4,864 parking spaces.

Freeman suggested a variety of housing types, outdoor gathering spots and green spaces and "a framework of interconnected streets and blocks."

This was where in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic halted Brookfield's first multimillion dollar facelift to Northbrook Court, a redevelopment plan and project that under former Village President Sandy Frum gained board approval on June 11, 2019.

It featured 315 dwelling units, covered parking, a 60,000-square-foot grocery store and 40,000 square feet of new retail.

Qualifying as a tax increment financing district on "blighted area factors," according to village documents, it was estimated that at the end of the TIF's 23-year run the property's equalized assessed value would increase to between $70 million and $75 million from $9.5 million in 2017.

Freeman said the new retail and residential areas will minimize disruption to the existing 350,000 square feet of retail space in the mall. He added a caveat.

"While the open-air retail serves to be the heart of the initial phases of development, additional phases contemplate potential scenarios ranging from an adaptive reuse of the existing mall shops to a state where the mall is potentially razed.

"In our long-term vision over multiple phases, we believe the neighborhood could house up to 2,000 homes, which could consist of a variety of housing types and sizes including apartments, a 55-plus community, condos, rentals and townhouses, all potentially implemented over a 10-year period or more," Freeman said.

A slide showing a "Zoning Block Plan" included 36 acres devoted to mixed-use residential, 15.6 acres of mixed-use commercial, 30.2 acres for parks and open space - 23 acres currently serve as water detention, 13.6 acres of streets and right of way, and 1.8 acres for private event space and a civic area.

"To support this level of investment, we will need, as we did in 2019, to be able to count on public financial support for the project," Freeman said.

Ciesla, Freeman and Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said over the next several months village officials will take a variety of steps. They'll establish agreements, meet with various stakeholders including Northbrook District 28 and Glenbrook High School District 225, meet with neighbors, conduct open houses and review documents with the village board. Information on the proposal was to be uploaded Wednesday onto the village website, northbrook.il.us.

Pavlicek hoped to arrive at a timetable for the project's early phases in September.

Trustees gave Ciesla their consensus approval to move forward with discussions.

"The most important thing for the public to hear today is this is the start of the conversation," Ciesla said.