Developers preview 1.2M‑sq‑ft Vernon Hills industrial park; trustees flag truck, drainage and buffering concerns

Developers previewed plans on Dec. 17 to convert roughly 70 acres at 100 South Milwaukee Avenue — the former American Hotel Register site — into a multi‑building industrial park that, if built as proposed, would add roughly 1,000,000–1,200,000 square feet of new industrial space.

Jason Simon, a member of the development team, told the Village Board the proposal contemplates four new buildings plus the existing warehouse and would likely be built in phases, with three buildings constructed “out of the box” on a speculative basis and later buildings added once leases are secured. “We are proposing 4 new buildings in addition to the existing building … These 4 buildings total about a million feet,” Simon said during the concept review.

Board members and staff focused their questions on three recurring issues: truck activity and overnight parking, outdoor storage, and impacts on nearby residents. Staff noted the current BP zoning prohibits overnight trailer parking outside a walled enclosure and generally forbids outdoor storage; the petitioner requested feedback on acceptable limits and potential locations for screened outdoor storage and asked whether limited overnight truck parking could be seen as part of a user program. The petitioner said typical users usually prefer to keep materials inside buildings but acknowledged some tenants request fenced outdoor storage for items such as roofing materials or assembly functions.

Trustees pressed the developer on neighbor impacts along the site’s southern edge. One trustee pointed to the proximity of Woodbine Estates and estimated about a dozen homes backing up near the existing warehouse, asking whether the proposal could shift loading docks away from those residences and add additional buffering. Staff confirmed some landscape‑buffer variances would be required (the Continental Executive Park PUD calls for a 50‑foot residential buffer; the concept currently shows a roughly 25‑foot buffer in one location) and that the existing building’s south‑facing docks remain a legacy constraint. The developer said the new buildings are designed with truck courts and docks oriented west and that extra screening and “an extra bay on the back end of each building” would help shield truck courts from the neighborhood.

Trustees also asked about stormwater, drainage and power demands for prospective manufacturing users. The petitioner said the design team is aware that some future tenants can require significant electrical service and that the speculative buildings are not being built with extraordinary power only where a tenant commits. Staff warned that drainage and truck routing will be closely examined during technical review.

No formal zoning actions were taken. Staff and trustees emphasized this was a concept review to solicit board input; the proposal will move next to technical review and then to the Planning & Zoning Commission and public hearings. The board’s comments will be incorporated into those entitlement materials.