Owner seeks new use for office building

A mostly vacant office building could become apartments, if the village gives its approval for a zoning change. The building is located at 420 W. Merrick Road, between Waldinger and Montague streets, behind a car dealership.

The two-story building contains parking on the ground floor and office space above, which is mostly empty according to Dominick Minerva, attorney for the property’s owner, Comet Realty Holding Corp. Minerva spoke about the proposal at the village board’s work session on July 7.

Because the building is located in a commercial zone, residential use is prohibited. Minerva asked the board to change the designation to a floating multiple dwelling district. “It’s not really working well as an office building,” he said.

The owner is proposing to put eight apartments on the building’s second floor, including four two-bedroom units, three one-bedroom units and a studio apartment. On the ground floor, there would be 26 parking spaces.

There are single-family homes directly south of the building. Village attorney Michael Hopkins said having an apartment building overlooking these homes could cause concern. Village Trustee John Tufarelli added that he does not believe that neighboring homeowners would support this change.

“There’s no other apartments down there for a reason,” Deputy Mayor Virginia Clavin-Higgins said. “It’s all commercial.”

The village board would have to approve the zone change, while the board of zoning appeals would be responsible for site plan review and issuing any variances.

“We have to look at it,” Clavin-Higgins said, expressing her skepticism about the proposal. Noting that the Sun Valley and Hawthorne Court complexes are set to open in the next few months, and a project is proposed for Gibson Boulevard, she asked, “Do we really need more apartments right now?”

Clavin-Higgins added that while she feels bad for the owner that he is struggling to rent the space for offices, he bought it knowing that it was a commercially zoned building. She also said she is not sure how desirable it would be to prospective renters, as one side of the building looks over a used car lot.

No decision was made by the village board at last week’s meeting. The proposal is expected to be revisited at the next work session on Aug. 4.