Orland Park approves memorandum of understanding, consulting agreement with Edwards Realty for Main Street Triangle project

By Jon DePaolis

ORLAND PARK, Ill. – The Village of Orland Park is hoping that it has better luck the second time around when it comes to the Main Street Triangle District.

The Village Board of Trustees voted 6-1 Monday, March 15, to approve a memorandum of understanding and a real estate consulting agreement with Edwards Realty for the remainder of the 9-plus acres left to be developed as part of the Triangle project. Trustee James Dodge cast the lone dissenting ballot.

During the discussion, Village Manager George Koczwara said the Village completed a request for proposals for a master development agreement in 2018. Two finalists were selected — Structured Development and Edwards Realty. Koczwara said the Village Board members reviewed both developers’ proposals and ultimately decided to work with Structured Development.

“Staff worked with Structured Development throughout 2019 and 2020, but the challenging times brought about by the COVID pandemic substantially altered Structured Development’s plan and proposal,” he said. “It became clear that the parties would have to part ways.”

That parting of ways happened in October 2020, after which the Village staff reached out to Edwards Realty to see if the company was still interested in the project.

“In our discussions, Edwards Realty believes that a significant portion of their original plan remains viable,” Koczwara said. “The next step to validate those plans is to more fully develop and review a plan, along with the financial veracity of that plan, to ensure all parties are satisfied with the product and prepared to enter into a full MDA to implement that vision.”

Koczwara said the memorandum of understanding and consulting agreement sets forth the Village’s approach and desire to work with Edwards Realty on the design and development of the project for the remaining 9.15 acres of land in the Triangle TIF District.

“The MOU has no financial impact, and the compensation contemplated on the real estate consulting agreement is deferred throughout the term of the agreement and would therefore need to be budgeted in 2022 only if a successful MDA is not reached with Edwards Realty within 12 months,” he said. “It’s clear that Edwards Realty is committed to this project and the community. We are excited to move forward with this project.”

Ramzi Hassan, president of Edwards Realty, said the business owns the Orland Park Crossing development on LaGrange Road. He also noted that he is an Orland Park resident.

“We’ve had success on two sides of LaGrange Road, and we want to bring that success over here, which has been longing for it ever since I moved to Orland Park 15 years ago,” he said.

Hassan presented concept plans that the company had worked on for approximately a month but noted that Edwards Realty would work with the Village to put together a final, collaborative plan with not only the staff and board members but also the public.

“We’re very excited to dive back into this, and a lot of our success has come from being the second guy in,” he said. “And we do get the job done.”

Among other items, the concept plan included: construction of a building that could serve as a 1,500- to 2,000-person multipurpose facility that could host concerts, esports competitions or other events; a park with a water feature that could include a cascading waterfall and a possible site for a memorial commemorating Orland Park’s heroes; a rooftop restaurant; and buildings designed to be a mix of entertainment (such as bars and restaurants), small boutique shops and residential.

Trustee Michael Milani said he liked that the plan had deadlines included in it. He also liked that the developer brought a concept plan to show at the meeting in such a short timeframe.

“This is going to show us a mix of commercial, restaurants, retail, residential,” Milani said. “You’ve got the public spaces that everybody has been looking for and the walkability aspects and opportunities for entertainment. So, I think it is kind of bringing the best of everything that people have been asking for. And also, I think it helps us maximize the use of the land in the best way possible, too.”

Trustee Cynthia Nelson Katsenes thanked Edwards Realty “for stepping up to the plate.”

“You’ve been very good community partners over the years,” she said. “Your success is already proven in town, not only in Orland Park but also outside [of the Village].”

Mayor Keith Pekau also voiced support for moving forward in the process with Edwards Realty.

“The [RFP] process was a long one,” Pekau said. “We chose one, and two of us that were there at the time voted for this [Edwards Realty] project.

“One of the things that we’ve talked about a lot then and now is that this needs to be a project that benefits all of Orland Park not [just] the residents of 143rd [Street] and LaGrange [Road].”

Pekau said his opinion is that the project needs to be mostly commercial, such as office, restaurant, or retail space.

“They live here,” Pekau said of Edwards Realty. “They know what the residents want.”

But not all of the board members were sold on moving forward, with some of the issues expressed by trustees being that the process was rushed.

Trustee Kathleen Fenton asked Koczwara why she was not given the materials for the item until very late into the process. She also asked why she was not allowed to meet with the developer prior to the meeting.

“Why, with such a major decision to be made tonight, was I … not afforded the courtesy of being able to sit down with them prior to tonight’s meeting?” she asked.

Koczwara said that what was being approved at the meeting was just “the preliminary step.”

“We’re very early on in this whole process, and there is going to be a lot of these conversations that occur over the next year,” he said.

Dodge asked several questions of staff and the developer during the meeting. Among those, he asked if the concept drawings depicted in the plan that were shown during the meeting was possible. After Hassan responded that it was, Dodge asked if the developer would need incentives in order to do so.

“The last time we ran [an entertainment district] broadly around the track, it was a $30 or $40 million incentive,” Dodge said. “That’s my recollection.”

Pekau said he believed it to be about $15 million in incentives. Hassan added that there were several iterations of that request.

“We will ask for incentives,” Hassan responded. “You see all the public spaces and the parks. Those things don’t pay for themselves. That’s why this is a collaborative effort. It depends on what you guys want and what the residents want, and how do we incorporate that into a plan? And if there is a delta between what the market will bear and what the Village wants, that will have to be filled somehow.”

Dodge said that he wanted it to be clear to the residents that the site might wind up being mostly residential and retail unless the Village was willing to approve large incentives to assist the developer in building the public spaces and entertainment areas.

“It might not have office; it might not have entertainment; it might not have water features — unless we write big checks,” Dodge said.

Trustee Dan Calandriello said he liked aspects of the proposal but felt that it was rushed. He made a motion to table the item, but it failed 4-3, with Fenton and Dodge joining him in the failed vote.