St. Charles to seek proposals for former police station

St. Charles aldermen are seeking development proposals for the former police station and adjacent city-owned properties after holding off last year because of the pandemic.

At the Oct. 18 St. Charles City Council meeting, aldermen unanimously voted to seek conceptual proposals for the former police station along the Fox River. The development site potentially includes adjacent open spaces and parking lots.

Last year, aldermen decided to hold off on seeking development proposals in light of the adverse economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In September 2019, the department’s new $24.6 million state-of-the-art police station at 1515 W. Main St. opened for business. The new 56,000-square-foot station replaces the department’s former quarters at 211 N. Riverside Ave., portions of which date back almost 100 years.

“The intent of this request for conceptual proposals is to identify potential project concepts that meet the city’s interests for redevelopment of the property,” states a draft of the document. “The city intends to review the conceptual proposals and consider selecting a developer with a concept that best meets the qualifications of this request. If a concept is selected, the city would continue discussions with the select developer regarding refinement of the concept and a redevelopment agreement for the property.”

The document states the city prefers a mixed-use redevelopment proposal, but that it is open to the property being developed for retail or office use or as a restaurant, hotel, or for condominiums or apartments (upper floors only).

It also states the proposal “should take into consideration the quality and style of architecture in the downtown and how the proposed building complements the existing built environment.”

Any proposal will need to meet parking demands.

“Growing the commercial or residential base in downtown will require special attention to address parking demand,” it states. “Proposals should include parking to accommodate the requirements of the development, and to the extent possible, parking should be located internally. Any parking that exceeds the minimum required parking for the development would be considered favorable.”