Huntley sells old Village Hall for $10 with plans for restaurant and banquet space

Huntley has officially sold its old Village Hall to Wauconda-based True North Properties.

The Village Board voted Thursday evening to sell the former Village Hall for $10 to True North Properties, which also converted the former Catty building to the Cornell apartment complex that opened this past fall.

The board also signed off on a redevelopment agreement and approved a special-use permit, allowing the space to be converted into a restaurant and banquet space.

“We’re just excited,” Nick Ieremciuc of True North Properties said. “We’re just itching to start.”

Plans for the building include demolishing the back of the current building and adding a one-story addition that would include public restrooms.

Trustee feedback has made its way into the final design. The Village Board originally looked at a two-story addition last April. The Village Board took a second look at plans in August, and the addition had been reduced to one story at that point.

Trustees also said then that they wanted awnings on the building, which made their way to renderings presented Thursday.

The Huntley Area Chamber of Commerce previously had been in the old Village Hall and is moving to the Union Special building Oct. 1.

In November, operators of Elgin-based Cafe Roma announced that they would be opening in the old Village Hall space.

The project is located in a tax increment financing district. A TIF district is a redevelopment incentive for which increased property tax revenue generated by new construction within the district is funneled back into the project to cover some redevelopment costs until the TIF expires, which is typically 23 years.

Village documents indicate that the project will have $2.5 million of private investment, but as part of the agreement, the developer will receive 100% of the incremental property tax revenue for the first five years after construction is completed, which Huntley estimates is about $30,000 annually.

The village indicated that the developer also will get up to $150,000 reimbursed for building out the restaurant and get $50,000 annually for TIF-eligible expenses for the first five years. The total TIF funding the developer could receive is $550,000.

The special-use permit covers relief needed for the project, such as parking. Plans currently call for parking to be off-site at existing lots in and near the downtown area, such as the Main Street parking lot and other public parking nearby.

The zoning ordinance required 73 parking spaces for the 217-seat restaurant, or about one spot per three seats.

As part of the redevelopment agreement, construction is set to begin 30 days after closing but has to have “substantial completion” by Sept. 30, 2025, according to village documents. If that is not the case, the developer will pay the village $100 per day until it is.

“I’m glad it’s finally come to fruition,” Mayor Tim Hoeft said.