A $60 million proposal to build a pair of multi-use buildings on Uptown Circle could go before the Normal Town Council as early as this month.
Creating a Trail East and Trail West development has been a town goal for more than a quarter of a century. In recent years, the town renewed its interest and moved forward with several proposals, but they never came to fruition.
But the wait could be over.
On Monday, Normal’s Uptown Design Review Commission gave its nod to Joliet-based Carlson Bros.’ proposal, unanimously approving certificates of compliance for construction for two locations straddling Constitution Boulevard between North and Beaufort streets. The approvals followed tabled votes on the matter in June.
“They had some specific ideas that they wanted us to implement, and we thought they were good ideas, so we went back and worked with our architect to address those issues,” said Jeremy Richmond, Carlson’s design coordinator.
Normal associate planner Tessa Ferraro, who was part of Monday's meeting, said she’s optimistic the town council will support the proposal, given the town's desire to develop that part of Uptown. The commission is full of experts in architecture and design, and the group really took its time looking at the details of the Carlson Bros. plan, she said.
“It really adds to the vibrancy of Uptown. It adds housing units so people that live in Uptown can support the existing businesses that are currently in the area, and adds more retail and restaurants, and just places for people to go, and adds to the quality of life and space in our central business district,” said Ferraro.
The proposal calls for a $35 million, 203,000-square-foot building on the Beaufort Street side of Uptown Circle, as well as a $25 million, 126,00-square-foot building on the North Street side. The buildings would include residential parking.
If all goes well, the project could be completed by 2029, and potentially even 2028, company vice president Dave Carlson told WGLT after the meeting. He expects construction on the pair of buildings would be concurrent.
More details will be available if Normal leaders OK the project, said Carlson, adding, “The first thing we’ve got to do is finish up the agreements with the town council. There’s a lot of moving parts.”
Trail East and West would create business space on the first floors, and more than 200 residential apartments and related spaces on the remaining floors.
“The demand in town is right for the residential,” said Carlson, talking about the community’s growing housing needs. “We think we’ve created a product, as far as retail goes, that will attract some great retailers here, and restaurants that Uptown may be missing right now. We think the time is right for this.”
One remaining question is the fate of a Beaufort Street building that would need to be razed for the plan to proceed as presented.
On July 1, the town’s historic preservation committee approved plans to raze 102 and 104 W. North Street properties to make way for Trail West. However, the fate of the two-story colorful building on Beaufort Street hasn’t been decided. That’s the one with the quilt of murals on its exterior wall.
Next step: Gain council approval
Town planner Ferraro told the commission with the certificates OK’d, the project could come before the council as early as next week, but it likely will be later.
The certificates approved Monday by the design commission allow for several variances to design requirements, but both are contingent on the developer first providing commission leadership with a few more details — such as a clearer 3-D rendering of a facade canopy, and some other details on architectural elements.
On June 26, a three-hour presentation on Trail East and Trail West offered details of the building designs. But the commission tabled a vote over other concerns — such as setbacks, canopy reach, and façade design, which were addressed on Monday.
“I think that the developer really took those to heart and was able to produce updated renderings in a short amount of time, and met the objectives,” Ferraro told WGLT.
Some of those included making stronger cornices, redesigning the exterior of upper floors to eliminate a vertical striping, and making adjustments to some window frame designs.
