The Village of Cary currently owns the building located at 441 West Main Street. Constructed as a one-story schoolhouse in 1888, this is one of the older buildings within the Village. In 1892, a second story was added to the building. The Village took ownership of the building in 1955 and occupied the building as the Village Hall and Police Department until 1978. In 2003, the Cary Park District utilized the building as a multi-purpose senior citizens center through a lease with the Village. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Park District relocated the senior related programs to the Park District’s Community Center to better serve the seniors. The Park District’s lease of the building ended in November 2021.

With the Village having no applicable uses for the building, Village staff reached out to area taxing bodies regarding their potential interest in taking possession of the building. No taxing body formally expressed interest in the building. Therefore, Village staff gauged interest in the building from the private development community. A Request for Proposals was presented to the Committee of the Whole on December 7, 2021 to be released to the public requesting proposals for the adaptive reuse of the property. Click here to view the meeting. With the consensus of the Committee, the Request for Proposals was released on December 8. One proposal was received from True North Properties. True North Properties has recently completed a building renovation in Crystal Lake and has begun a project with the Village of Huntley on the Catty Property.

On March 1, 2022, the developer attended the Committee of the Whole meeting to present their company background and development experience. Click here to view the meeting. The developer returned to the Committee of the Whole on June 21, 2022, with a concept plan for the property. Click here to view the meeting. During this meeting, the Developer proposed renovating the current building into a 4-unit apartment building, as well as constructing three three-story apartment buildings along the School Street side of the property, as well as garages along the back of the property. The Committee of the Whole provided feedback regarding this concept plan.

Staff met with the developer to discuss the Committee’s feedback, as well as zoning requirements. The updated concept plan includes the rehabilitation of the old Senior Center building as a 4-unit apartment building, as well as the construction of two 3-story apartment buildings consisting of three apartments in each building and the construction of one garage unit for each apartment unit on the property. This concept was presented as part of the August 16, 2022 Village Board of Trustees meeting, where True North Properties requested a waiver of certain application requirements for a planned development application related to the development of this property. Along with this request for a waiver, the Village Board of Trustees was presented a Redevelopment Agreement for review. Click here to view the meeting.

The Redevelopment Agreement acts as the next step for True North Properties to obtain and develop the property. This is conditioned upon the Village's acceptance of a bid to purchase this property, as well as the approval of a purchase and sale agreement. The Notice of Property Sale and Request for Bids was published on August 12, 19, and 26, 202. The deadline to submit a sealed bids was 4:30PM on September 20, 2022. 

The Village received one sealed bid, which was opened during the Village Board of Trustees meeting at 6:00PM on September 20, 2022. The Village Board of Trustees accepted the bid from True North Properties in the amount of $100,000 for the purchase of the former Senior Center. This bid acceptance is subject to the negotiation and completion of a final development, purchase, and sale agreement. Click here to view the meeting. 

True North Properties’ formal zoning petition has been scheduled for a public hearing before the Board of Zoning, Planning, and Appeals on October 13^th. The final purchase and sale agreement will also be brought forth to the Village Board of Trustees for approval at a future meeting.