Skokie trustees reject plan for apartments, restaurant and therapy space at prime downtown lot

The Skokie Village Board voted 5-2 on Dec. 1 to reject plans for a development that would have constructed a new six-story residential building and restaurant on a pair of vacant downtown lots.

With only Trustees Jim Iverson and Alison Pure Slovin voting in favor of the project, the board overrode the Plan Commission’s unanimous November vote supporting the development to be constructed at 7952 Lincoln Ave., the site of a shuttered Bank of America. 

If the plan had moved forward, Paul Leongas, the developer, would have built a six-story mixed-use building with 58 residential units and a first-floor commercial space, and expanded the adjacent existing former bank building to contain a restaurant and youth services center.

In line with the village’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, a one-bedroom unit and two-bedroom unit would have been reserved for people making 80% of the area’s median income and one three-bedroom unit would have been reserved for people making 60% of the AMI.

The plans contained 1,700 square feet of retail space and 104 parking spaces.

“The Village is seeing a shift in the commercial mix of the downtown business ecosystem with vibrant retail streets that enhance the pedestrian experience. The proposed restaurant and cafe align with this momentum,” village staff wrote in support of approving the development. 

The 6,900-square-foot youth services center proposed to occupy part of the development would have been operated by Action Behavior Centers, a Texas-based company with numerous facilities across the country that provide therapy for children diagnosed with autism.

Tyler Manic, an attorney for Leongas, told trustees on Monday that Action Behavior Centers wanted to join the project because its nearby Lincolnwood location is “busting at the seams” and there’s a demand for their services in the area. 

The development, however, needed a special-use permit because, according to Skokie’s zoning code, a youth services center is not a permitted ground-floor use for the site, which only could feature retail businesses on ground floors and commercial businesses above. 

If the plan had been approved, the village stipulated that the Action Behavior Centers’ certificate of occupancy would be revoked if the 9,778-square-foot Mediterranean restaurant proposed to occupy the same building did not open to the public within nine months.

The project first appeared before the Plan Commission in April and was scheduled to be reviewed by trustees on July 21, but was then withdrawn from that board meeting’s agenda “to resolve certain project issues,” village documents show. 

When the trustees reviewed the project during an Aug. 4 meeting, Mayor Ann Tennes said it wasn’t “matured enough for Board consideration due to unresolved queries and suggested additional examination by staff” according to that meeting’s minutes. 

The project was sent back to the Plan Commission with village staff requesting a condition that the residential portion of the development must be constructed within two years of plan approval. The Plan Commission amended that requirement to a five-year timeline. 

The trustees approved an amendment on Monday that would have required the residential portion of the development to be completed in three years, not five. 

“I have trouble supporting this development,” Tennes said before putting forward that amendment. “I believe that the petitioner is requesting extraordinary relief to fit something that is not in full use, especially in a prime retail location in our downtown.” 

Tennes added village staff, who have spent the past five months developing Skokie’s first strategic plan, have heard “loudly and clearly from the community” that they are looking for a “bold vibrancy in our downtown” and she’s concerned this development does not support that vision.

Other trustees asked questions about the development needing permits from the Illinois Department of Transportation, traffic generated by parents picking up their children from the youth center and whether nearby businesses are supportive. 

Sections of an existing building at the site were removed in 1951, the bank was reduced to its current size in 1991 and two other buildings located on the lot were torn down sometime between 1963 and 1972, village documents show. The Bank of America branch closed in 2022. 

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