Suburban School District Takes Wirtz Family Fight to Lawmakers

The feud over one of Illinois’ largest proposed housing developments has Springfield’s attention.

Four state legislators have pledged to introduce a proposal that would give Mundelein schools more leverage in negotiating how much the Wirtz family must pay in impact fees tied to its massive Ivanhoe Village project, Crain’s reported.

At issue is an $86 million gap between what school officials say they need to accommodate new students, including building a new school, and what the developers have offered to contribute.

Only municipal officials can negotiate those one-time fees with developers, a setup that’s left the affected school districts sidelined.

The legislation would give school leaders a formal seat at the table. It was announced in a letter signed by state Sens. Adriane Johnson and Mary Edly-Allen, along with Reps. Daniel Didech and Laura Faver Dias, who all represent parts of the roughly 700-acre site in Lake County. The letter was addressed to Robin Meier, Mundelein’s incoming mayor.

Superintendents of the local school districts welcomed the move. Fremont District 79 and Mundelein districts 75 and 120 have warned that the expected influx of at least 800 students from the future Ivanhoe Village — a 40 percent increase for one of the districts — will overwhelm schools and burden taxpayers unless the developers contribute more.

The districts’ most recent shot over the bow was a pitch to just de-annex the Ivanhoe land completely.

The village’s mayor, Steve Lentz, criticized the school leaders last month, saying they were trying to “shame” the high-profile Wirtz family into paying above what’s required. He argued that state law doesn’t permit one-time school construction fees.

The Wirtz family, which owns the Chicago Blackhawks and a beverage distribution empire, has remained quiet on the public dispute.

Its plan for Ivanhoe Village includes nearly 3,600 homes, over 1.3 million square feet of industrial space, hundreds of senior housing units and major retail and office components. Full buildout is expected to take 20 to 25 years.

Wirtz Realty revised its housing mix earlier this year, planning a split between single-family homes, townhomes and rental apartments, with accessory-dwelling units also in the plans. If passed, the proposed legislation could shift how Illinois suburbs approach developer fees for megaprojects in the future and could make developers think twice before planning major suburban projects.

— Judah Duke