Sports Business Hopes To Relocate From Deerfield To Northbrook

NORTHBROOK, IL — Village trustees will consider a preliminary application to redevelop a portion of the Sky Harbor subdivision into a multi-purpose athletic, educational and therapeutic facility. It's the second time the owners of the Joy of the Game sports center have proposed a potential Northbrook location. In May, trustees favored the idea of bringing the business to town but raised concerns about increased traffic and parking needs at a different site a few blocks to the north on Huell Road at Commercial Avenue.

North Shore Sports and Wellness is owned by lifetime Northbrook residents Barry, Ed and Mike Nekritz, according to its application. More than three years ago, the company took over the Joy of the Game facility at the Deerbrook Center. The company said it aims to offer programs from various groups at the facility, including personal training, educational services, physical therapy and group training.

The company said it hosts six stand-alone business and six sports programs providing wellness-related programming. Joy of the Game is an all-ages membership club with programming including basketball, soccer, baseball, football, floor hockey and volleyball. Felicity School is an elementary school program for children with special needs. Movement Revolution provides physical therapy for those with neurological disorders and group therapy and training sessions. The Institute for Human Performance provides personal training for teens and adults.

According to a memo from village staff, the business would require special use permits for a membership sports club, one-on-one personal training facilities and an elementary school. The site would also required an amendment to the comprehensive plan, rezoning from a restricted industrial district and other variations.

The warehouse space it hopes to rent at 555 Huell Road is comprised of more than 40,000 square feet, which would be converted to four basketball courts, training and workout areas, a sprinting track and more. The rest of the site, including two floors with 19,000 square feet of office space, will hold a physical therapy area, school. office space for businesses, a party room and a light kitchen. Three wooden basketball courts will be brought over from the Deerfield location, along with bleachers.

Current tenants, the audience engagement company Omeda, will remain in about 12,000 square feet of office space. Most of its employees have been or will be relocated to its Chicago office, according to the preliminary application materials.

Village staff suggested trustees consider if there should be any special operational limitations placed on the businesses or on any special events hosted at the facility, which will occasionally host birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and tournaments that can draw more than 600 people, according to a memo from senior planner Michaela Kohlstedt.

The current Joy of the Game facility in Deerfield has more than 300,000 annual visitors, including families from Deerfield, Highland Park, Highwood, Bannockburn, Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, Glencoe, Wilmette, Winnetka, Wheeling, Glenview, Prospect Heights, Buffalo Grove, Northbrook, Palatine, Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect and Chicago, according to the company.

The building would require an estimated 157 parking spaces during peak weekday hours and a potential maximum peak of 224 parking spaces, according to village staff. The company said it could pave some additional parking areas along the eastern part of the building and bring the current on-site parking to 209 spaces. A more thorough parking study would be conducted if the project moves into the formal application process.

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