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

DEERFIELD, IL — With Baxter International nearing sale of its 101-acre headquarters campus in Deerfield, a growing number of residents are expressing their frustration regarding the potential future of the property by signing a petition.

Earlier this year, Bridge Industrial, or Bridge, announced its plans to purchase the land at 1 Baxter Parkway. 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, according to documents on the Village of Deerfield's website.

For those signing the petition 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, which was up to 1,717 signatures Friday morning, was started by Jamie Mintzias.

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.

"The same stop light on Saunders Road would control truck and car traffic for both the industrial and residential areas," the petition reads. "Congestion, noise, and pollution would span beyond Riverwoods into neighboring communities."

The Deerfield Plan Commission is holding a public hearing regarding the project at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27, at Deerfield Village Hall, 850 Waukegan Road. According to the agenda for the meeting, 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

According to a memo from Bridge included in the agenda, the two industrial buildings would be able to accommodate a variety of uses including warehouse, distribution, assembly, and light manufacturing. The recreational facility would be designed in a way that it could be converted to industrial use in the future if needed.

Bridge also notes the Deerfield Park District has expressed a "high level of interest in leasing the recreational facility."

"The three buildings they are proposing will be as big as the Amazon warehouse that you drive by in Kenosha, but right here in our backyard, Deerfield," reads the petition.

Patch has reached out to Bridge about the petition and the project.

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.

Bridge, founded in 2000, describes itself on its website as a "vertically integrated real estate operating company and investment manager focused on the development and acquisition of industrial properties in supply-constrained core markets in the U.S. and the U.K."

Thorngate residents opposing the project are also concerned about what impact it will have on the "unique woodland preservation community." In an email and press release sent to Patch, Caron Blitz, a Thorngate resident, said hundreds of local residents plan to meet up at Deerfield Village Hall with signs at 6:30 p.m. April 27, prior to the meeting.

"This plan is detrimental to the safety of our communities and threatens the environment for our residents, our children, and wildlife," Barbara Raff, Thorngate Homeowners Association president, said in the news release. "This plan must be stopped and the Deerfield officials must understand they would be turning their backs on the well-being of Riverwoods and Deerfield tax-paying residents."