Mitch Goltz’s perseverance was tested, and he proved this month he has enough to come out on top of a yearslong suburban Chicago retail development battle.
The local government in Glenview approved plans by Goltz’s Chicago-based firm GW Properties for a new shopping center — only after lawsuits over the project’s fate were filed and multiple changes were made to initial plans, the Daily Herald reported.
GW’s plans involve building five structures totaling 57,000 square feet as well as parking for almost 300 vehicles. A 12,000-square-foot medical building will also be included as well as a 10,000-square-foot Guidepost Montessori school and day care center.
The village board approved rezoning of land at the southwest corner of Pfingsten and Willow roads, from a residential district to a limited business district. About two acres of open space wasn’t rezoned so it could serve as a buffer between the new shopping center and neighboring houses.
The rezoning passed in a 4-2 vote, with Gina DeBoni and Adam Sidoti voting against it. In addition to the officials opposed to the new development, 20 other local residents spoke out against the project at a Jan. 5 meeting, presenting fears for traffic and pedestrian safety on the site.
It’s not the only Chicago-area project GW has had to alter in the face of concerns from local residents. It’s also in the process of gaining approval for a revised retail development plan in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood near the Six Corners intersection, where Goltz’s firm is redeveloping a former People’s Gas warehouse and parking lot property into an $80 million mixed-use asset featuring 110 apartments and five retail buildings.
GW added more housing to that proposal after residents made comments in support of more housing density and less retail on the site during an earlier planning phase.
In Glenview, GW wasn’t able to satisfy critics by simply talking it out and making tweaks. The company sued the village after its board denied a previous plan in 2021, though the case was put on hold while the renewed proposal was reviewed.
The suit will be dismissed by the developer with the passage of the updated plan, which dropped a 35,000-square-foot Amazon Fresh grocery store, drive-through restaurant and a gas station that were pitched for the site during earlier stages.
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