Yorkville may invite developer proposals to help sell off downtown properties

Talks are underway at Yorkville City Hall to solicit project proposals for two city-owned buildings downtown, an early move to sell the properties with the hope of accelerating economic development.

The Yorkville City Council is set to discuss in the coming weeks plans for selling the Old Post Office at 201 W. Hydraulic St. and the Van Emmon Activity Center at 102 E. Van Emmon St.. As the city government and police department transition to a new city hall, officials see the sale of the properties as a boost for the downtown and the city’s finances.

“There is a desire [by aldermen] to get the downtown development moving,” City Administrator Bart Olson said. “I think the majority of the City Council is motivated to see if we can find a developer to put up something successful.”

But talks with private developers in recent years have not panned out, according to a city memo, and there are no ongoing talks to sell the buildings. That has prompted the city to weigh requests for proposals for the downtown properties. Should the council approve RFPs, interested developers would submit their plans for consideration by the city.

While Olson said RFPs might not be the “standard method” for selling municipal real estate, the city used an RFP to sell the historic jail downtown in 2019. Developers have since renovated and converted the building into residential units.

Although there is no timeline for the RFPs, both properties come with their benefits and limitations for developers. The old post office has a riverfront location, making it ideal for an event space or restaurant, Olson said. The Van Emmon building, for its part, is a 3-acre property that extends up a hill, a large development for any downtown area, let alone Yorkville.

On the other hand, the city has planning guidelines and form-based code that could limit the height and size of any future developments.

“With both properties you want to make sure that something is successful and generates economic activity for the town, but also is not so large that it disrupts the character of the downtown,” Olson said.

The downtown properties are not the only real estate maneuvers happening in Yorkville. Aldermen discussed a sale price for the current city hall at 800 Game Farm Road during a closed session earlier this month and the city is in talks with “various entities” for selling the property, according to a city memo.

In addition, officials have weighed selling 8 acres owned by the city near the Kendall Marketplace shopping center at the northwest corner of Route 34 and Cannonball Trail. Although “very limited discussions” have taken place with developers, the city has identified the property as a good candidate for either a solar field or the site of a new public works facility.