Northbrook trustees approve amendment allowing residential phases before retail at Northbrook Court

The Village of Northbrook Board of Trustees voted to amend the planned development ordinance and redevelopment agreement for Northbrook Court to allow portions of the residential program to be built prior to completion of the retail center.

The approval, taken at a joint meeting with the village’s Plan Commission, grants Brookfield Properties the sequencing flexibility it requested while preserving the development’s previously approved terms, including the affordable‑housing commitments and the tax‑increment financing conditions tied to retail delivery.

The change follows an extensive process that led to the board’s original 2023 approvals. At the hearing, village staff and the developer said they are not changing building types, densities or the plan’s substantive approvals — only the order in which phases may be built. Amy McEwen, the village’s director of development and public services, told the board the amendment would allow the developer to “begin to work on plans to bring some residential plans forward” while still requiring the detailed engineering and site work normally reviewed at the building permit stage.

Paul Schadl, attorney for Brookfield Properties, said the company was seeking “an amendment to the planned development, the Special Use and Planned Development Ordinance, and…