Baxter Site Meeting Postponed Due To Large Crowd In Deerfield

DEERFIELD, IL — Following outcry from residents regarding future plans at the Baxter International campus, a planned public hearing with the Deerfield Plan Commission scheduled for Thursday night was postponed due to an overflow crowd.

The meeting has been rescheduled for May 11, according to the Village of Deerfield's website. The time and location of the meeting have yet to be determined.

Protestors holding signs lined up at Deerfield Village Hall prior to the meeting. Baxter International is nearing the sale of the 101-acre campus at 1 Baxter Parkway to Bridge Industrial. The Chicago-based developer is proposing to annex the property to Deerfield and rezone the site for industrial and recreational use. Their intent is to then demolish all existing structures and redevelop the property as a state-of-the-art business park.

"Each day, more community residents and influencers are joining our cause as awareness grows and they learn about the harmful consequences this plan could have on our families and environment," Caron Blitz, of Riverwoods, told Patch. "We're just getting started in our opposition and if last night's crowd is any indication, residents are empowered to make their voices heard."

As reported by Patch last week, a petition opposing Bridge's plans was started at Change.org. The key issue with this proposal is the potential of "an estimated 600 semi-trucks per day congesting the streets of Saunders, Lake Cook and Deerfield roads." The petition has now reached more than 3,300 signatures as of Friday afternoon.

RELATED: Petition Against Baxter Site Plan Nears 2,000 Signatures In Deerfield

In a letter to the Village answering questions about the project, Bridge said it anticipates truck traffic to be a mix of different vehicles, but also believes it will be primarily semi-trucks. It anticipates peak traffic on weekdays will be between 7:45 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. in the morning, and 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. at night. The company said weekend traffic will "generally be lower" during the aforementioned hours.

The petition also notes the industrial complex would be across the street from the largest residential community in Riverwoods, the Thorngate subdivision.

Bridge's three-building plan for the property includes:

• a 896,700-square-foot, speculative, industrial building
• a 228,450-square-foot, speculative, multi-tenant, industrial building
• a 156,600-square-foot recreational facility with a full size indoor soccer field, an indoor youth baseball field and six outdoor pickleball courts

While details regarding the purchase price of the Baxter property have not been released publically, Crain's Chicago Business reported in January that the deal for the 645,688-square-foot-headquarters would be in the neighborhood of $90 and $100 million.