With progress on a residential development for a village-owned parcel of land in the 4000 block of DuBois Boulevard stuck in neutral, the village of Brookfield is reaching out to the wider real estate development community.
On Sept. 13, the village issued a public request for qualifications for developers interested in redeveloping some or all of the area bounded by DuBois Boulevard, Blanchan Avenue, the BNSF Railroad right-of-way and Ogden Avenue.
“We want to solicit interest in the site,” said Nicholas Greifer, the village of Brookfield’s director of community and economic development. “The village owns [a portion of] the land, but we’re not in the business of being the developer. We’re trying to find a developer.”
The village of Brookfield owns two parcels of land within that footprint – the former Brookfield Moose property in the 4000 block of DuBois Boulevard and the vacant parcel of land at 9508 Ogden Ave. The village bought the Ogden Avenue property for $90,000 last month.
The DuBois Boulevard property lies within the Congress Park Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District. The Ogden Avenue property is part of the Ogden Avenue TIF District. The area is adjacent to the Congress Park Metra stop, one of three commuter rail stations along the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad line in Brookfield.
The village created the TIF districts to help spur redevelopment along Ogden Avenue, which is the village’s busiest commercial thoroughfare.
According to the RFQ, the village is open to offering economic incentives to help a developer “implement the vision of transit-oriented development.” Among the incentives the village is willing to consider is conveying village-owned property to the developer at a discount and waiving various building permit fees.
The village used such a deal to redevelop what is now the Sherwin-Williams location, just a block west at Ogden and Eberly avenues.
For more than a year, beginning in 2015, Brookfield had worked with the Chicago-based real estate firm Troutman and Dams, which served as the “developer of record” for the Ogden Avenue site.
Troutman and Dams was working with a builder on a development that called for the construction of two five-story, 24-unit apartment buildings on the former village-owned Brookfield Moose property.
However, the village’s agreement with Troutman and Dams has expired. And while Greifer said the firm is still interested in its plan and may respond to Brookfield’s new RFQ, the village wants to broaden its reach.
“We didn’t want to sole-source it, either intentionally or unintentionally,” said Greifer. of the development process. “This more likely gives us a decent chance to get more than one developer to show some interest.”
James Troutman, principal at Troutman and Dams, did not respond to multiple calls seeking comment on the status of its proposed project or whether the company was interested in responding to the RFQ.
Responses from developers are due back to the village of Brookfield on Sept. 26. Village staff will review the responses and choose a preferred developer by Sept. 29, according to a timeline included in the RFQ.
Once a developer is chosen, the village will begin negotiating with the preferred candidate to draft a redevelopment agreement. The village would like to execute a redevelopment agreement by mid-October, according to the RFQ.
