Village Closes Deal on Downtown Property

After a lengthy legal process, the Village of Wilmette is officially the owner of the property at 611 Green Bay Road.

The $3.675 million deal closed Wednesday, finance director Bob Amoruso said. 

To buy the property as quickly as it had promised, the Village issued short-term debt by investing in certificates of deposit at the North Shore Community Bank with an interest rate of .6 percent. The bank agreed to provide credit at a rate of 1.1 percent, so the village will effectively pay half of a percent on the loan.

"We don't keep large cash reserve balances, and they've been drawn down by the economy," Amoruso said. "We don't feel we've overpaid for the property. This is simply an investment in Wilmette's future."

Village manager Tim Frenzer said Wilmette hopes to combine its various projects into a single bond issue in November.

"The reason to use short-term debt is that it's only March," Frenzer said. "We may have other debt that's required before the end of the year. What you'd prefer to do is wait a reasonable time into the year to make sure you avoid incurring unnecessary multiplying transactional costs."

This is the end of a year-long legal puzzle that began when Mitch Miller, the property owner, sued Wilmette for denying his proposal to build a drive-through pharmacy on the lot. Miller had initially been given the go-ahead in 2007 to build a mixed-use building on the property, but plans fell through when the desired number of units weren't sold. Miller then came to Village trustees with a plan to construct a building that would have incorporated three stories for a CVS and offices.

Village administrators agreed to buy the land on an accelerated timetable as part of with Miller.

The next step is to find a developer interested in building on the property. The village hopes to use the space as a two-story development that incorporates a retail store on the bottom and either a residential or office area on the top. 

"This particular piece falls on one of the three main target sites village was looking at, and it's a pretty important piece," said John Adler, director of community development. "At this point, the village sees it as a benefit to trying to bring about the goals developed in that "