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Northbrook launches online development tracker; Brookfield updates Northbrook Court progress
Summary
Village officials unveiled a new development-tracker tool on the village website and said Brookfield Properties and village staff continue to advance plans for a major redevelopment of Northbrook Court, with public conversations expected in March.
Northbrook village officials on Monday demonstrated a new online development tracker intended to give residents a single place to check the status of local projects and said negotiations with Brookfield Properties over the future of Northbrook Court remain active.
The tracker, available from the village website front page, maps properties and groups projects by status — "construction completed," "under construction," and "village approved" — and links each parcel to the most recent public record available, officials said. The village said the tool will be updated regularly using building permits, business-license data and other project milestones.
Village President Ciesla introduced the tool and asked Amy McKeown, interim director of development services, to demonstrate it. McKeown showed examples residents could find in the tracker, including a completed listing at 250 Skokie Boulevard and an under-construction project at 163 Skokie Boulevard (the Fresh Market). McKeown said the village will generally add projects to the tracker only once a developer has taken steps that strongly indicate the project will move toward construction, such as securing a permit or business license.
The launch came as the village reiterated that redevelopment of Northbrook Court remains its top priority. The village has created a tax-increment financing (TIF) district and assessed needed public-infrastructure improvements to support redevelopment, officials said. President Ciesla invited Adam Trit, identified in the meeting as chief development officer for Brookfield Properties, to address the board. Trit said Brookfield and village staff "have aligned on a plan that supports further investment and development at Northbrook Court" and that the firms are "moving" toward a public presentation and board consideration as they finalize details.
Village staff said they expect to return to the board in March with a public conversation about timing and details related to the first phases of public and private improvements on the property.
How the tracker will be updated and when individual Northbrook Court items will appear on it will depend on the same permitting and licensing milestones McKeown described; village staff said they will continue coordinating with Brookfield as the company completes its internal plans.
Details on the tracker, the upcoming State of the Village address, and registration information were posted on the village website and the Northbrook Chamber site, village officials said.
