Hoffmann Ditching 28-Acre Lombard Site

Hoffmann Alpha Omega Development Group is scrapping its plans for a mixed-use development in Lombard.

The Mark Hoffmann-led firm has hired JLL to market the 28-acre property at 600 East Butterfield Road, near the Yorktown Center mall, where it originally planned to build hundreds of apartments and a Topgolf-style driving range, Crain’s reported.

Schaumburg-based Hoffman ditched its plans for the site amid hiked interest rates and rising construction costs — an increasingly difficult obstacle for developers to get around in today’s market.

Hoffman bought the property for $9 million in 2021 from the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. The seminary relocated to the Lisle in the western suburbs and changed its name to Northern Seminary.

Lombard officials approved the developer’s proposal for the site around the time of the sale, and Hoffman acquired an additional $27.5 million in subsidies to help finance the project.

It’s unclear what the land will sell for, but current market conditions continue to push property values down. A tight lending climate could make it difficult to sell altogether, as investors know that banks are less likely to provide a loan for an unproven property.

JLL is marketing 600 East Butterfield as an opportunity to pursue a residential, office, industrial or retail development. However, Lombard Village Manager Scott Niehaus has ruled out the possibility of an industrial project.

“We would be open to a mix of uses that could range from entertainment, active recreation, restaurants and housing,” Niehaus told the outlet.

The property’s prime location could lure prospective buyers, though. The lot is just west of Yorktown Center and the Westin Lombard hotel, while also being surrounded by other office buildings, hotels and retail properties.

In JLL’s marketing brochure, the firm referred to the parcel as “a rare and compelling opportunity to develop in a highly sought after trade area.”

— Quinn Donoghue