Village Officials: Proposed Shopping Center Entrance is Too Tall

Improvement plans for the Cambridge Commons shopping center inched forward this week, but after more than a year of negotiating with its owner, Buffalo Grove officials have yet to give final approval.

Trustees on Monday signed off on a revised economic incentive agreement with the property owner, but opposed a request to raise the highest point of the building to nearly 57 feet.

The changes to the economic incentive agreement were made to help encourage sales tax-generating businesses to occupy the west side of the shopping center. Rogan’s Shoes, the previous anchor tenant, was expected to relocate into that 10,000-square-foot space, but the store instead moved to the Strathmore Square shopping center.

The bottom line of the agreement remains the same — the village’s incentive to the developer is still capped at $1.1 million — but it offers tiered sales tax reimbursement bases determined by how much the non-anchor tenants generate in annual sales.

The two parties agreed on one other thing Monday night. The shopping center is “tired” and in need of improvement. However, a majority of trustees disagreed with developer Nick Vittore on how to make that happen.

Related: Cambridge Looks 'Tired to the Point of Narcolepsy'

Economic incentive funds will be used to improve the building’s façade, Vittore said. “We need to have a freshened up shopping center to attract new tenants,” he said.

A grocery store will occupy the anchor space, Vittore said, but a lease has not yet been signed. “Whether they will be doing business as Fresh Farms or another entity remains to be seen,” he said.

The developer is working with the same architect who designed the Fresh Farms shopping center at the southwest corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Dundee Road in Wheeling. “We really like the appearance and aesthetics of that shopping center,” Vittore said. That building is about the same height as what he proposed for the Buffalo Grove site.

Façade improvements call for keeping the current arch in front of the anchor space, but enhancing it with a brick front and a heightened roofline that obscures the top of the curved roof from the outside view.

The highest point of the arch is now about 30 feet. The developer asked Buffalo Grove officials to let him raise the highest point, above the grocery store entrance, to nearly 57 feet. Board approval is required for building higher than 45 feet, which is the maximum allowed under that site’s zoning.

“The height of the structure is very important,” Vittore said.

Resident Frank Sears, who lives just to the east in Cambridge on the Lake, voiced opposition to the proposed height.

“The height of the roof must not be enhanced at the expense of the neighboring residents,” he said, adding that residents fear the building would block sunlight from their units. “We don’t want to be looking out at a 57-foot gun tower,” he said.

Trustees ultimately agreed, voting 4-2 against the building’s height. Only Mike Terson and Andy Stein supported the proposal. The board’s decision upheld a previous 4-1 denial by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

“I hope you’ll sharpen the pencil and that we’ll see you in a short time with a shorter building,” Village President Jeff Braiman told Vittore.