Overview
- Trustees voted unanimously Monday to grant rezoning, a special use permit, site plan approval, and a height variance allowing a 74-foot building where code caps height at 70 feet.
- The project from developer Dan Spain calls for 39 condominiums across five stories near the Metra line, with units roughly 1,500–2,250 square feet priced about $750,000 to $1.4 million.
- Public comment skewed against the plan, with 21 speakers opposing and four supporting it, and an online petition to save the building has drawn more than 2,000 signatures.
- The 1903 structure with a 1924 Egyptian Revival/Art Deco façade sits in the La Grange Historic District but lacks top-tier designation and protection under a separate preservation ordinance.
- Antique mall owner Therese O’Sullivan backs the redevelopment, citing a failing elevator and high retrofit costs, and says roughly 60–70 vendors plan to relocate nearby within about six months.