Exterior work on downtown Huntley old fire station to be delayed by up to five months

Part of the old fire station in downtown Huntley, which is being transformed into a series of apartments and a restaurant, will see construction delayed, with the developer possibly taking on penalties if they don’t meet the new schedule.

Some Huntley trustees, as well as Village President Timothy Hoeft, were not happy with the delay after the developer requested five extra months to complete the shell of the building during the Village Board’s meeting on Thursday.

Trustees agreed to the extension, which will move the completion date for the exterior from the end of this year to the end of May, but included a caveat that will see the developer fined retroactively if they don’t meet the new date. The fine will be $100 per day, village material states.

Despite the delay, the full completion of the building, which is expected to come by June 30 of next year, will not need to be pushed, representatives with the project said. The delay will just affect the exterior of the building.

Originally, the shell was supposed to be completed by the end of 2022, but due to design issues, the developers, Coral Street Firehouse LLC, first asked for a deadline through the end of March, board documents show.

At the meeting on Thursday, though, representatives with the development asked instead the deadline be extended to May after realizing earlier in the day weather might be a persistent issue.

“I’m just extremely disappointed … that we’re finding out about it [now],” Hoeft said at the meeting. “We’ve got a relationship. I don’t know why the phone wasn’t picked up. That’s extremely frustrating.”

John Curtis, a representative for the project, said the delay stems from winter weather now becoming a concern. Temperatures need to be at least 28 degrees in the morning and rise from there in order to do brick work, he said.

The weather means exterior work on the building, which was torn down and needed to be rebuilt, would need to wait until spring, Curtis said. From there, it would take another 30 to 45 days to finish.

“Having enough good weather to even accomplish that March 31 date … is going to probably be difficult,” Curtis said.

Trustee Curt Kittel asked if something could be done to help deal with the elements. Curtis said they looked into tenting the building, which would cost between $80,000 and $100,000.

While exterior work will be delayed, interior construction will continue, meaning the development should still be completed by June 30. Officials with the development stressed they would not need an extension for that date.

Trustee Ronda Goldman, the lone vote against the extension, said she didn’t have a problem with giving them more time. She voted against it because of the possible fine levied against the developer, which she didn’t want.

“I don’t have a problem with it. It’s the reality of life,” Goldman said. “I know you’ll thrive.”

Trustee Mary Holzkopf said she was “shocked” by the extension request, saying if completion is not done by June 30, she would not vote to extend their allotted time. At that point, she would opt for fines.

“I’m kind of a stickler with dates, and I have to really tell myself to give grace to people with that because life does happen,” she said.

If the new May deadline is not met, the developer will be charged for every day dating back to March 31, meaning they could see two months worth of daily penalties to start.

The project to transform an old fire station in downtown Huntley was approved in March. The plan calls for a restaurant on the first floor and 18 apartment units on the floors above.

When the developer bought the project, it was paired with a number of requirements, including that the company invest at least $5 million into the site.

In May, the village approved a request to demolish the original building, as keeping the building rather than rebuilding would have been more “cost-prohibitive,” Hoeft said earlier this year. The new building will be identical to the old.