4th Story Added To Green Bay Road Real Estate Office, Apartment Plans

WINNETKA, IL — Plans for the former site of the French Institute of the North Shore have grown, as the real estate firm looking to build a new mixed-use development in downtown Winnetka added a fourth floor to its proposal.

Engel & Volkers purchased the property December 2021 and received unanimous village board approval in August 2022 for its plans for a three-story building on the property at 564 Green Bay Road.

"We want to stay in this area," local Engel & Volkers co-owner Karen Arenson, told trustees last year. "I love being here, we love having this community, we're very involved in the community."

The firm is looking to relocate from its currently location on the second floor of the Laundry Mall, 566 Chestnut Street.

"We love being in the Laundry, but would love this opportunity," Erikson said. "Because in real estate, we should own real estate, not rent it."

Last year's plan included just two apartments, along with a rooftop deck. The new proposal eliminates the rooftop deck while adding a third apartment on the additional floor.

Each of the apartments would be about 1,750 square feet, and the building would have a two-car garage on the ground floor.

The current structure, now set for demolition, was built in 1927 and remodeled in the mid-1950s. The facade was updated in 2000 and an addition was added in 2007, according to a staff memo.

After 23 years in Winnetka, the French language school in the building closed in the summer of 2021.

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Last month, the project went before the Winnetka Design Review Board, whose members suggested the fourth story include a setback, according to a staff memo. In response, the developer revised plans again, eliminating the need to request a zoning variation.

The project meets the zoning code's height and rooftop setback requirements, but it will need to be granted some exceptions from the code and a special use permit.

While the zoning code would require five parking spaces for the trio of two-bedroom apartments, the planned garage only includes room for two.

The ground-floor commercial space does not meet the minimum square footage that would trigger a need for additional parking spaces under the code, but the company will need a special use permit to build off-street parking at street level, according to a staff memo.

Engel & Volkers representatives have pledged to lease a third parking space somewhere else for the third apartment, the memo said.

The proposal also would include a rear yard setback of as little as 3 feet at the alley's narrowest point along the west property line, although 10 feet are required.

The Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the latest version of the proposal Monday.

The design board is scheduled to consider the updated plan on April 20, and the Plan Commission is due to consider recommending approval of a special use permit on April 26, but the final decision will ultimately come down to another Village Board vote.