Planning commission backs Hawthorne Mall PUD amendments to allow 288‑unit mixed‑use building, reduced setbacks and parking ratio

The Village of Vernon Hills Planning and Zoning Commission on Aug. 27 recommended that the Village Board approve a set of amendments to the Hawthorne Mall planned unit development that would make way for a four‑story mixed‑use Phase 2 featuring 288 residential units, 37,000 square feet of retail, and a structured parking garage serving both uses.

Developers presented a reworked site plan that preserves roughly 103,000 square feet of retail and limits demolition at the mall to a small 5,600‑square‑foot “bumpout,” while shifting the mixed‑use building to a more visible, signalized intersection. Courtney Brower of Focus Development summarized the residential program: “we're proposing a four‑story apartment building with 288 residential units, 37,000 square ft of retail and there will be a structured parking garage with 540 spaces,” she said.

The commission considered multiple linked requests: amendments to ordinances 2013‑013 and 2013‑014 (site, landscape and architectural revisions and revised PUD special use), zoning code variations (reducing front and side yard setbacks, allowing increased tower and…