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Planning magazine, March 2001
Downtown Arlington Heights, Illinois
By James H. Andrews
John Guilfoil remembers downtown Arlington Heights, Illinois, from the years when he rode his bike there to buy candy. In the 1950s, before the big shopping malls drew customers away, downtown was the center of the community, Guilfoil recalls, but by the early 1980s, it was "blighted and looking pretty sad." Local officials felt they had to do something, says Guilfoil, now a businessman in town, and they did. In 1987, the city adopted a master plan for the central business district. This year, the major pieces of the downtown revitalization program are in place, and the Arlington Heights Department of Planning and Community Development receives the APA award for outstanding planning: implementation. Mayors, village board members, plan commissioners, and planners have come and gone since the 1980s, but the commitment to the seven objectives of the downtown plan has continued--to diverse and concentrated uses, a residential population, quality pedestrian environment, a unique image and identity, quality development through design review, public-private partnerships, and early results.
Arlington Heights, organized as a village under Illinois law, is located about 30 miles northwest of downtown Chicago on a major commuter rail line. The population is 78,000, a few thousand more than in 1990. The central business district of 16 blocks—46 acres—straddles the railroad tracks and Northwest Highway, a wide U.S. route. John Guilfoil opened Earth Friendly Choices, a card and gift shop, just north of the train station in 1994. He chairs the board of the Central Business District Association and sits on the board of the Arlington Heights chamber of commerce. Looking good Guilfoil likes the look of the new downtown. He expresses surprise at how well it has turned out, singling out the design of the controversial Arlington Town Square project. "A nice job," he says. "We're fortunate that the (village) trustees and planning department figured out they needed to do something."
Charles Witherington-Perkins, AICP, arrived as planning and community development director at the beginning of 1990. He had worked in nearby Schaumburg and before that in Fort Myers, Florida, and his native England. "I love this downtown stuff," Perkins says after showing off the results of the village's long effort. "It's had its headaches, but it's been fun." During a walking tour, Perkins points out details a visitor might miss: the planned variety in architectural styles and features, the long slate roofs and copper gutters on the new but traditional commuter station, compatible colors on the station and a 1920s building across the tracks, preservation and continuing use of several old buildings, one of which houses a tapas restaurant, and the bar and restaurant off the lobby of Metropolis, the new performing arts center. The village pushed its downtown objectives through two building booms, the first in the 1980s, the second in the late 1990s. It established zoning to allow density and mixed uses, acquired property, and found public funds for infrastructure and gap financing for private developers when necessary. The village built parking garages, expanded green space, improved streetscapes, and developed design guidelines based on the community's historic image. It established two tax increment financing districts, and helped finance facade and other improvements to existing structures. Early downtown development included two residential high-rise buildings with a total of 630 rental apartments. A building boom The economy picked up again, and over the last five years the village negotiated agreements with developers and committed $27 million in TIF funds to leverage $200 million of private investment. Last year public-private partnerships brought 330 new residential units, 157,000 square feet of retail space, 67,000 square feet of office space, 10 restaurants, the performing arts center, a six-screen movie theater, parks, and other amenities. Over the last 15 years, the village committed more than $45 million in TIF money to downtown development. At the center of last year's building frenzy was the village's new $4.7 million commuter rail station, which serves 3,200 daily commuters. (Another 2,200 riders use a second Metra station at the Arlington Park race track.)
Before the project began, the downtown station, tracks, platforms, highway, and parking lots created a "huge no man's land," Perkins says. To bridge the gulf between the two parts of downtown, the plan called for traffic changes and amenities to get people into the station. The new, larger station is two blocks west of the old one, and Metra, the commuter system, is moving its platforms to reduce the time that stopped trains block street traffic.
The village attracted three businesses to the station—a news and sundry shop, a bakery, and a McDonalds restaurant—which are open into the evening. Funds for the station and improvements came from six sources: state and federal agencies, the regional bus and rapid transit, and tax increment financing. Bringing in people A second project completed last year is Arlington Town Square. Before that, the block had only one viable business, Perkins says. Town Square has the new movie theater, restaurants, shops, offices, and a 13-story condominium apartment building. There is parking on the street, in the apartment building, and in a 325-space village-owned garage underground. Planners expect Town Square to be busy 16 to 18 hours a day. The Metropolis performing arts center opened last April with a 400-seat theater plus restaurants, stores, loft apartments, and an adjacent public parking garage. To ensure continuing use for the performing arts, the village insisted on right of first refusal if the developer wants to sell, with village investment credited to the purchase price. Metropolis has a full schedule of music, dance, drama, and comedy through the week and through the year.
The fourth project is Village Green. Sales of apartments in two eight-story buildings are going on now, and construction of a third building will start this summer. The complex has indoor and surface parking, 264 residential units, and retail space. As planning and implementation proceeded, the village used many tools to involve and inform the public: meetings, large and small, and hearings, publications, mailings, a computer animation presentation, a video, surveys, and tours. Although there was widespread support, some residents were cool to the new downtown.
Three or four years ago "a lot of people weren't exactly happy about it," Guilfoil says, including, he says with a laugh, his mother, who still lives in town. The village was "changing the downtown a lot." Much of the public unhappiness focused on Arlington Town Square: the height of the apartment building, closing a street, and tax increment financing, though TIF had been in place for some time. There were lawsuits, and 6,000 people signed petitions. Most of the opposition came from people living near downtown, who had legitimate concerns about traffic and parking, Guilfoil says. Adding up the results Numbers tell much of the story. In 1984 there were 150 housing units downtown. Now there are 1,230, with 230 more in the works. The downtown population has grown from 350 to about 2,200.
Since 1985, the assessed value of downtown property has grown from $10.7 to $43.7 million. Once the four new projects are on the tax rolls, assessed value will go to more than $72 million, according to officials' conservative projections. People moving downtown are probably much like residents of the high-rise that houses Guilfoil's business—lots of young professional people and older empty nesters, he says.
"Most are pretty happy with what's happening downtown." And in words to warm a planner's heart, Guilfoil says he knows a couple there that doesn't even own a car. One works at a refurbished supermarket a few blocks away, the other takes the train into Chicago to work. "Everything's right here now," Guilfoil says— shopping, movies, restaurants, entertainment. And for other needs, they can "hop on the Metra."
For more information, see www.vah.com/commerce/cbd2.html. Andrews is associate editor of Planning.
