New building coming soon to Northfield’s Frontage Road

An “obsolete” building on a sizable parcel in a key Northfield corridor will soon be razed to make way for a new project.

Northfield trustees during their late March meeting unanimously approved an applicant’s request to build a new two-story, 24,000 square-foot medical office building at 790 Frontage Road.

To make way for the building, developers will demolish the existing three-story office building and the adjacent one-story building that currently sit on the 2.24-acre site just south of Tower Road, said Steve Gutierrez, Northfield’s community development director.

In addition to the three-story building on the subject property at Frontage Road, the site also includes a 1.5-story annex, bringing the full scope of structure to just under 40,000 square feet.

The project’s petitioner, listed in village records as North Shore MOB, plans to partner with a concierge medical practice, per a village memo from Gutierrez. That practice, Dedication Health, is slated to occupy the full second floor of the new building, officials said.

Each floor of the new two-story building will be evenly split with 12,000 square feet.

Jon Talty, the CEO of OKW Architects, the firm partnering with the applicant, said planners are currently in lease negotiations with a tenant for the ground-floor space.

Talty described the overall building as a “kind of bespoke medical office building,” adding that the site will include drop-off valet parking as an option for patrons.

“It’s going to be a really lovely experience for those seeking healthcare in the community,” he said, later noting that many of the doctors practicing out of the building will be from the North Shore.

The four-sided masonry structure will have its primary elevation to the north and be setback further on the site so it’s “not intrusive in terms of the Frontage Road experience.”

Village officials lauded how the developer’s plan promotes aspects of the village’s comprehensive plan. Gutierrez’s memo cited how it builds off the vision of working toward “the rehabilitation or replacement of deteriorating or obsolete commercial, office and industrial structures.”

Additionally, officials said the building owner had struggled to lease office space for years and the new medical office use will be serving “the strongest sector of today’s office market.”

Northfield’s Plan and Zoning Commission as well as its Architectural Commission also reviewed and recommended approval of the plan.

Village President Tracey Mendrek expressed her thanks to planners for showing interest in the site and bringing a new use forward.

“Thank you for your interest in Northfield and for continuing to be a part of our community,” she said. “We appreciate that.”

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