Plans for the construction of 40 rental homes at the southwest corner of Willow and Pfingsten Roads in Glenview received preliminary approval from the Village Board this month.
Trustees on April 3 voted 6-0 in favor of an ordinance rezoning the long-vacant 8-acre property for residential use and for the development of 20 two-story duplex homes—a total of 40 residences. A second and final vote is expected to take place on April 15.
The Village Board’s action received applause from a room filled with more than 50 supporters, many of them neighbors of the property, which had been rezoned in 2023 for a commercial development that never materialized. That project, known as Willows Crossing, had generated objections from residents who called for the land to remain residential.
At last week’s meeting, resident Carol Sullivan said, “This is the right plan and now is the right time for development at Willow and Pfingsten. This proposal delivers a solution that meets both community needs and development potential.”
Glenview trustees also spoke highly of the plan and the engagement of developer Michael Nortman, a Glenview native who grew up in the adjacent neighborhood. Nortman said he met with many of the neighbors and learned there was “a strong desire for anything other than commercial there.”
He acknowledged, however, that he had initially explored constructing the shopping center that had been approved under a different developer in 2023.
“We determined the shopping center plan that was approved was not executable financially,” Nortman said. “Essentially, it was a mis-designed plan.”
The property is located west of Glenview’s Plaza del Prado shopping center and north and east of single-family homes.
Glenview’s 2017 Comprehensive Plan, which contains recommendations for how land throughout the village should be used, identifies the future use for the property at the southwest corner of Willow and Pfingsten as “low density residential.”
Monthly rents for the proposed duplexes were not publicly shared.
There are no plans to include units that meet affordable housing standards, Nortman told the Village Board. Like the development of 60 single-family homes approved by the Glenview Village Board in March on the former Scott Foresman campus at 1900 East Lake Avenue, the Residences at Charlie Court, as the proposed Willow and Pfingsten development is called, will be primarily marketed to “empty nesters” and retirees, according to documents shared by the village.
The proposal calls for 27 of the 40 units to contain three bedrooms, and 13 units to contain four bedrooms. Twenty-one of the residences will have the primary bedroom on the first floor, and none of the homes will contain basements.
Calculations from both the village and the developer’s consultant estimate that the new homes will generate approximately 14 additional elementary school students and three high school students.
Glenview School District 30, however, expressed concerns about the potential for additional elementary school-age children and strain on nearby Willowbrook School and its resources.
In a March 5 letter to the Glenview New Development Commission, District 30 Superintendent Emily Tammaru wrote, “The proposed duplexes, with their three-to-four bedroom configurations, are more likely to attract families with children than the ‘empty nester’ demographic suggested.” Her letter noted that a recent townhome development in Northbrook generated 34 new students, rather than the projected 14.
“An unexpected influx of students could lead to classroom overcrowding, necessitate additional staffing, and potentially trigger costly renovations or even a referendum for funding,” Tammaru continued, suggesting that the village consider a 55-and-over age restriction for the duplex development.
Nortman said this is not part of the plan.
“Just because you put an age restriction at 55 doesn’t mean they don’t have kids,” he said. “That’s not the way the law works and that’s not the way age restrictions work.”
As required by the village, the developer will pay impact fees to the local schools and park districts. Changes to the fee structure are under consideration, but as they stand now, District 30 will receive a one-time payment of $129,461, Glenbrook High School District 225 will receive $38,675, and the Glenview Park District will receive $221,988, according to information provided by the village.
The new development is projected to generate $487,500 in annual property taxes, with $202,440 going to District 30. Still, that district could see a negative net fiscal impact, depending on the number of new students, projections from Teska Associates, the village’s fiscal consultant, indicate.
While supporting the development, Glenview Trustee Katie Jones said the impact on schools from new residential construction is “something we need to be concerned about.”
“We continue to have these residential developments come before us and we are approving them in what I consider to be ‘silos,’” she said. “I think it’s important we start to look at the community as a whole and look at what is going into our schools. All of these [developments] will affect District 225.”