Burr Ridge Official Tied To Costco Plan

BURR RIDGE, IL – A member of the Plan Commission, which would review any proposal for a Costco store in town, represents the national chain in his day job.

Plan Commissioner Mike Stratis is vice president and counsel for Oak Brook-based Intrepid Properties.

The firm is representing Costco in its plan for a store on the old CNH property at 6900 Veterans Boulevard.

In an interview Thursday, Stratis said he would recuse himself from any discussions and votes related to the CNH property if Costco chooses to locate there.

Bridge Industrial, a company with offices around the United States and the United Kingdom, has approached the village with a preliminary plan for the 110-acre property.

It would include a Costco store, a limited-hours gas station and a two-story regional headquarters office building, the village said in a statement earlier this month.

The village also said another million square feet of additional space would be for a business park and light industry.

Through a public records request, Patch on Thursday obtained village correspondence related to Bridge's plan.

On Aug. 7, the village released a statement about Bridge's plan.

A little more than a week before, Stratis feared the deal between Costco and Bridge may fall through.

He wrote Jon Pozerycki, a Bridge partner, expressing frustration that he had not heard from Bridge about advancing a letter of intent or contract with Costco.

"I spoke to my client today, and I am increasingly having a more difficult time keeping them on board with a complete lapse of forward momentum on a deal," Stratis wrote. "I pointed out to them that you are advancing a controversial project in Deerfield and perhaps are distracted – of course that didn't help. They've told me to move on if we are not under (a letter of intent) in the next week or so."

Stratis was referring to Bridge's plan for a big industrial development in Deerfield, which had drawn residents' opposition.

In an email to Village Administrator Evan Walter in late July, Stratis said he "strongly" suspected that the delay was purposeful. He did not give a reason.

In another email in mid-March, Stratis said he doubted there was any confidence that a deal with Bridge was in the offing.

"The SALT treaty took less time to negotiate," he said, referring to the 1970s agreement on nuclear arms between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Whatever the case, it appears Bridge and Costco reached a deal, given the village's Aug. 7 announcement.

Any proposal would undergo a multi-step process that would include public hearings by the Plan Commission.

Bridge Industrial is known around the area as the top bidder in January for Lyons Township High School's 70 acres in Willow Springs. The high school faced opposition to its plan to sell to an industrial bidder. In March, officials backed off the sale, but recently said they would take a new approach.

CNH, once International Harvester, is tied to Burr Ridge's history.

According to the village, International Harvester's decision to build a research center nearby prompted residents to vote for incorporation in 1956 as the village of Harvester. The name changed to Burr Ridge six years later.

Burr Ridge's Harvester Park was named in honor of the company.