Park Place off the table in Kenilworth

The developer of a polarizing proposal in Kenilworth has withdrawn the application, according to the Village.

Park Place — a luxury residential development planned for 515-519 Park Drive that received conditional Village Board approval in June — is no more, as developer Michael Frieburger backed up his claim that his team could not meet the trustee-imposed conditions for the project.

Frieburger, of Wilmette-based NEWLOOK Development, did not return The Record’s messages by press time.

Kenilworth Village Manager Kathy Thake confirmed that the Village is no longer considering Park Place; however, a demolition permit for 515 Park Drive remains active. That building was most recently home to Federalist Antiques and Helen’s Cleaners.

Thake said Village staff is awaiting information from NEWLOOK Development before the demolition permit is scheduled for a Building Review Commission agenda.

The path of Park Place

Initial plans for Park Place came to the Village in the summer of 2025 and quickly received pushback from neighbors, primarily because of the size of the project, initially proposed at 50 feet over four stories.

Both Kenilworth’s Architectural Review Commission and Plan Commission recommended denial of the proposal. Then, after two meetings in January of this year, the Kenilworth Village Board remanded the proposal back to their advisory board for further feedback.

In a revised submission, Frieburger and NEWLOOK lowered the project’s height to 40 feet and removed retail spaces, a decision he said was necessary to get the building’s height down.

Kenilworth trustees during a late April meeting opted to table a decision on that revised plan, and Frieburger revised it again, lowering the height again (35 feet) and getting rid of the fourth floor.

But trustees on June 15 said an approval would require a retail component to the development, causing Frieburger to say:

“In this particular project and design, as presented, as a luxury, for-sale product, there cannot be any commercial space. We would not accept conditions of that I don’t think, because we cannot do that.”

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