Cary Village Board accepts a bid proposal from True North Properties, Inc. for the redevelopment of a historic building

CARY — On Sept. 20, members of the Cary Village Board accepted a bid from developer True North Properties, Inc. of $100,000 for the purchase of the former Senior Center building and surrounding property located at 441 West Main Street.

If the name of that developer sounds familiar, it’s because it is the same developer that is in the process of converting the former Catty property located at 1117 South Church Street in Huntley, into a residential building that will accommodate 37 total apartment units.

The Village of Cary currently owns the former Senior Center building, which was initially built as a one-story schoolhouse constructed in 1888, making it one of the older buildings within the village.

The village took ownership of the building in 1955, where it was used as the Village Hall and police department until 1978, according to village staff.

It wasn’t until 2003 that the Cary Park District began utilizing the historic building as a multi-purpose senior citizens center by leasing it from the village.

During the pandemic, however, the park district decided to relocate all senior-related programs to its Community Center in an attempt to better serve its senior population. The park district’s lease of the building ended last November.

Following the park district’s departure from the building, the Village of Cary began reaching out to area taxing bodies to see if there was any potential interest in taking possession of the building.

Seeing as no taxing body expressed interest in the building, the village then began seeking proposals from private development companies. Village staff presented their plans for proposals at the Dec. 7, 2021 Committee of the Whole meeting.

The request for proposals was released on Dec. 8. Only True North Properties responded with interest in renovating the building into a four-unit apartment building, as well as constructing three three-story apartment buildings along the School Street side of the property.

Additionally, True North Properties stated that they would be constructing garages along the backside of the property.

Similar to what occurred with True North’s conceptual plans for Huntley’s Catty property, Village of Cary officials also requested some changes to the petitioner’s plans for the former Senior Center.

The updated concept plan still includes the rehabilitation of the old Senior Center as a four-unit apartment building, but instead of constructing three three-story apartment buildings, True North Properties has agreed to reduce that number to only two three-story buildings consisting of three apartments in each building.

True North will additionally be constructing one garage unit for each apartment unit on the property.

While the Village of Cary may have accepted True North’s bid for the purchase of the former Senior Center, the acceptance of the bid is still subject to the negotiation and completion of final development, purchase, and sale agreements.

“I commend the Village Board and Village staff for working efficiently to identify a developer for the redevelopment of this building and property within a year of it becoming vacated,” said Cary Mayor Mark Kownick. “We are thrilled to be working with True North Properties and we are confident they will restore the former Senior Center building to its original glory.”

A formal redevelopment agreement was approved between the village and True North Properties back on Aug. 16. That agreement is also contingent upon zoning approvals for True North Properties’ proposed redevelopment plans.

True North’s formal zoning petition has been scheduled for a public hearing before the Board of Zoning, Planning, and Appeals on Oct. 13.

The final purchase and sale agreement will also be brought forth to the Village Board of Trustees for approval at a future meeting.