Developer panel recommends aligning vision, approvals and funding to jump‑start Waukegan lakefront and downtown

Sam Green, a planner in the City of Waukegan’s planning and zoning department, told the Community Development Committee on April 7 that a developer panel convened by the Regional Transportation Authority and the Urban Land Institute visited Waukegan to evaluate potential redevelopment of the lakefront and adjacent downtown. “They gave us honest, unfiltered feedback,” Green said, describing the panel’s work on two focal sites: the Bay Marine lakefront parcel and a city‑owned parking lot across the street.

The panel identified three priorities: align the city’s and port district’s visions and approvals, resolve funding and permission questions, and prioritize downtown projects that can serve as proof of concept while longer lakefront work proceeds. “Prioritize your downtown. It’s more ready to go,” Green said, urging improved connections between downtown and the lakefront.

Greg Petrie, a Waukegan Port District board member, said the project began as a Port District initiative and that the joint application to the RTA for technical assistance was well received. “We were very pleased, and it was a very productive process that we had that day,” Petrie said.

City staff outlined actions already under way that respond to the panel’s recommendations: regular coordination meetings with the port district and the city’s development consultant; moving three parcels identified in planning documents toward transfer to the city to create public park space; pursuing an Amstutz–Sheridan Corridor feasibility study (the city has secured a state grant to fund that study); preparing a downtown housing market study; and planning an RFQ/RFP this summer for development of a city‑owned downtown parking lot.

Staff also relayed cost and regulatory obstacles flagged by developers: significant environmental cleanup is needed at some lakefront sites, and developers repeatedly raised the desirability of undergrounding overhead utilities to reduce the industrial feel of the shoreline. Green said the city and port are exploring land transfers and incentive packages that would be pre‑scoped to speed negotiations when developers express interest.

The presentation did not include binding approvals or budget votes. Committee members asked how this effort differs from prior studies; staff said earlier plans have been readopted into the city’s 2020 comprehensive plan, but each new grant, market study or technical assistance panel addresses distinct questions (for example, the statutory feasibility study for the Amstutz–Sheridan corridor had been funded but not yet completed). Green and Petrie emphasized the collaborative approach between the city and port district as central to pursuing grants and development opportunities.

The committee did not take formal action on the presentation itself. Staff said they will return with ordinance or budget proposals where required for any land transfers, incentive packages or grant matches identified in future steps.