Trending
Colliers exec leads group buying suburban country club property for redevelopment
Previous efforts to build a residential community on the 127 acres in Northbrook have failed
A group led by a Colliers executive is buying the shuttered Green Acres Country Club in suburban Northbrook, hoping to succeed in redeveloping the sprawling grounds where others have failed.
Village leaders in the past successfully opposed big residential developments that had been planned at the 127-acre property on Dundee Road just off the Edens Expressway, according to Crain’s. It is now zoned for open space.
Since the club went on the market in 2016, Swanson Development of Lake Forest and Farpoint Development of Chicago backed out of deals to buy it after they couldn’t secure village approval for residential development on the property.
Now, David Kahnweiler, non-executive chairman of Colliers International/Chicago, has stepped in. He told Crain’s he’s going forward with the purchase without getting village approval of any redevelopment plans. Kahnweiler is vowing to work with community officials to find something both sides can accept. The deal was expected to close Friday.
Kahnweiler’s group, which includes partner William Fausone, president of Colliers International/Chicago, is believed to be paying less than the roughly $20 million owed on the property, including fees and accrued interest, according to Crain’s.
JPMorgan Chase holds a $15.8 million mortgage on the property from 2016, according to Cook County records.
Village officials want to preserve the property as open space, saying a residential development will bring in more children to a district whose local schools are already strained. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien