St. Charles back to square one on redevelopment of former police building

St. Charles city officials are circling back to the possible redevelopment of the city-owned property at 10 State Ave. commonly known as the former police department site.

The site has been vacant since September 2019, when the department’s new $24.6 million police station opened at 1515 W. Main St.

After hearing several redevelopment proposals in 2022 and not moving forward with any of them, the city is aiming to start fresh with a Downtown Riverfront Property Feasibility Study for the site this summer.

Committee members recommended approval of an agreement with Chicago-based architecture firm Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz & Associates, Inc. to conduct the feasibility study at the May 6 Government Operations Committee meeting.

The agreement is expected to go before the City Council for possible final approval at its next meeting May 20.

In the summer of 2022, the city issued a developer RFP for the site and received four proposals. Proposed plans included hotels and apartment complexes with buildings as tall as seven stories, mixed use developments with restaurants, commercial space, outdoor plazas and riverwalks. The proposals’ estimated costs ranged from $60 million to $150 million.

After reviewing the redevelopment proposals and hearing feedback from council members and residents, City Council members decided that more information and analysis of the site was required to make an informed decision on the most appropriate option.

The proposals received pushback from residents and council members with concerns that the scopes of the projects were too large and the proposed buildings were too tall. As a result, the developer proposals were rejected and the city then solicited proposals for this feasibility study in September 2023.

Proposal responses were due in November 2023. SCB was the only firm to submit a proposal.

Economic Development Director Derek Conley presented the recommendation from staff at the May 6 meeting.

Conley said the intent of the feasibility study is not to propose development plans, but to collect data to provide the city with more information on what type of development best would fit the site based on the surrounding area and existing utilities and to identify the costs associated with making the site developable.

According to the proposal response from SCB, the scope of the study will include a technical analysis of the site and assessments of the existing conditions. Through data collection, testing and site visits, SCB will provide environmental, geotechnical, floodplain and utility analyses.

The study will analyze previous development proposals and provide the city with estimated demolition costs, traffic impact and parking analyses.

If approved, the study is expected to be conducted this year and completed in four to five months for a cost of $118,680.

“We are excited to work with the city and the community to prepare a strategic redevelopment plan for the former police station property,” SCB Director of Planning Christine Carlyle said in a letter to the city. “As a team, we understand the challenges of a complicated riverfront site such as the former police station site along the Fox River. Our riverfront plans recognize the importance of open space, bike trails and integrating the historic downtown fabric while knitting together the utility, roadway and parking infrastructure efficiently to support the desired development and help mitigate flooding.”

City staff has reviewed the SCB proposal and interviewed the project manager and SCB team. Notable projects that SCB has worked on in Illinois include Aurora’s downtown redevelopment plan and downtown redevelopments in Hillside and Moline.

If approved, SCB will organize a kickoff meeting with the city to review and finalize the project plans, including a timeline with milestones and delivery dates, key roles and communication protocol and a proposed schedule of meetings and workshops with city officials and residents.