Wirtz Family Warms to Suburban Chicago Residential Project

A suburban residential development’s future may hinge on negotiations as much as planning.

The Wirtz family, owners of the Chicago Blackhawks and Breakthru Beverage Group, has reopened talks with local school districts over impact fees tied to its massive Ivanhoe Village development, Crain’s reported.

The renewed talks follow escalating tensions between the Wirtz Realty Corporation, Mundelein officials and two school districts over how much the developer should pay to offset the project’s impact on public services.

The districts say the development could bring as many as 1,000 new students to the schools over 25 years and cost an estimated $150 million for new facilities.

Representatives for the Wirtzes halted the talks in January.

The Mundelein Village Board pulled two agenda items from its meeting this week — one on the proposed fee terms and the second an ordinance on codifying a formula for calculating the fees — to allow for further negotiations.

The village board’s review of Wirtz’s proposed impact fee contributions, originally scheduled for March 11, was also postponed.

Ivanhoe Village, a 3,600-home development planned over 740 acres, is expected to take 20 to 25 years. The impact fees are meant to help districts fund expansions and improvements to accommodate the growth.

Negotiations stalled over a massive gap in expectations. Fremont School District 79 is seeking $50 million from Wirtz to help fund a new $150 million elementary school, while Wirtz’s legal team has countered with an estimate closer to $5 million.

In recent weeks, tensions have spilled into the public. School officials accused the village of sidelining them during negotiations and criticized Wirtz for underestimating the project’s potential strain on schools.

Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz responded by accusing the districts of trying to “embarrass” the high-profile Wirtz family into paying more than what Illinois law requires. Lentz also emphasized that municipalities, not school districts, are responsible for negotiating impact fees.