Ishbia family’s proposed youth sports facility bound for Evanston hearing in July

(Editor’s Note: Alex Harrison reported this story for Evanston RoundTable, a neighboring independent newsroom. It was shared with The Record as part of an ongoing collaborative effort.)

The Ishbia Family Foundation has submitted a formal application for its proposed youth sports facility at 2722 Green Bay Road, currently the site of a vacant Office Depot building near the Wilmette border.

The proposal will go before the City of Evanston Land Use Commission on July 22.

The nonprofit foundation, headed by billionaire and pro sports owner Justin Ishbia, of Winnetka, submitted preliminary plans in March and plans to use the facility for organized practices, training sessions, clinics, camps and private group events.

The proposal succeeds an unsuccessful and separate plan to convert the Office Depot, which closed in fall 2024, into an Aldi grocery store.

Foundation spokesperson Sarah Hamilton told the RoundTable that the nonprofit foundation “has committed to not seek a property tax exemption” for the project.

The detailed development plans show practice spaces would be spread across three levels, with an overall floor area of approximately 55,000 square feet. The first floor would feature four batting cages for baseball and softball and a seating area next to a kitchen and restrooms, plus access to two small, below-ground soccer fields that can be viewed from above.

The second floor would hold the building’s main space: a large field that can be configured into two flag football fields, an under-8 soccer pitch and a baseball/softball field. Two elevated mezzanines would provide viewing areas for parents and other spectators.

The facility would have an eave height of 43 feet and a pitched roof peaking at 67 feet, with a mean roof height of 55 feet. It would use the site’s existing 52-space parking lot, which would be accessed through the existing entrance and exit on Jenks Street plus a new entrance-only curb cut from the public alley between Green Bay and Prairie Avenue, and an existing connection to Green Bay that would be limited to right-turn exits heading southeast.

While the facility’s size requires approval as a planned development, it will also require an amendment to Evanston’s zoning code. The proposal site is zoned in both a C2 commercial district and the Central Street Corridor Overlay district, the latter of which prohibits granting “site development allowances” for added height and massing, beyond the code’s limits.

The proposed amendment would modify the overlay district code to permit these two allowances for the Ishbia complex’s proposed 55-foot height (45 feet limit) and 1.06 floor-area ratio (1.0 limit), according to the city’s proposed developments webpage.

The project is scheduled for a Land Use hearing on July 22; though it could be extended to a second meeting in August or later. After commissioners vote on whether to recommend the proposal, it will advance to City Council for final consideration.

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