The myriad of tenants occupying commercial buildings within four specific addresses within Naperville’s Prairie Point Corporate Park can continue normal business operations after a recent vote of support from a city panel.
The Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission on Sept. 6 approved three petitioners’ requests to rezone four properties within Prairie Point from the ORI (office, research, light industrial) to I (industrial) designation.
The petitioners include Prairie Point Complex, owner of 2012 Corporate Lane; Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and TGA Prairie Point LLC, owner of 2019 Corporate Lane and 2043 Corporate Lane; and Prologis Targeted U.S. Logistics Fund, owner of 2235 Corporate Lane.
Rezoning to industrial necessary due to Naperville code amendment
Transitioning the properties from ORI zoning to I comes on the heels of the city council’s approval this summer of a text amendment to the Naperville municipal code.
The maneuver was technical, but touted by city officials as a means of having more municipal control over the types of warehouse, manufacturing, and distribution facilities that would occupy business parks within Naperville.
However, the ORI text amendment has caused a ripple effect for some of the existing properties within the community, including Prairie Point, where a number of existing tenants within the facility are now deemed nonconforming uses, based on the details spelled out in city code.
Community Planner Sara Kopinski said her office was in favor of the petitioners’ zoning requests.
“These properties are currently developed with a mix of tenants, including industrial warehouse facilities and other more intense land uses,” Kopinski said.
“Business and industrial parks such as Prairie Point Corporate Park are one of the primary land uses identified for this place type,” Kopinski added. “Staff is supportive of the rezoning requests, due to the established industrial character of the area and combined effort to rezone and recommends approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission.”
Property owner representatives have their say
Prologis retained the law firm of DLA Piper LLP to represent it in its rezoning request. Emily Becker, an attorney with the firm, spoke to commissioners about Prologis’ interest in having the property rezoned due to an imminent change on the building’s tenant roster.
“Prologis is actively marketing the property to new tenants and is seeking this map amendment, in order to make sure that the current use of the property will be able to be continued,” Becker said. “If the property lags in its conditional or nonconforming use for more than six months, we cannot renew that use, which is our main concern in this process at the moment.”
Howard Goldblatt, at attorney with the law firm of O’Rourke, Hogan, Fowler and Dwyer, spoke on behalf of Prairie Point Complex, which has owned the 2012 Corporate Lane facility for more than a decade-and-a-half.
“It’s been used primarily for warehouse purposes since that time,” Goldblatt said. “We’re concerned that the change to the ORI district will prevent us from using it for that purpose in the future.”
Calamos VP gives a different take
While city staffers are supportive of the zoning change to ensure long-term heavier industry uses at the site, commissioners did take testimony at the requisite public hearing from one nearby property owner representative who was against the petition.
Chris Landis, vice president of Calamos Real Estate LLC, said the firm favors the continuation of the existing businesses at Prairie Point, but is in opposition to the outright rezoning that would signify future tenants could follow similar uses.
“Calamos has become a major stakeholder in the area,” Landis said. “The Calamos organization has approximately 58 acres, composed of over 1-and-a-half million square feet of Class A real estate, in terms of office, retail, hospitality, and mixed-use properties.”
Twenty-seven of the company’s acres abut the petitioners’ rezoned parcels within Prairie Point, Landis said, which prompted the company’s response to the proposal.
“In our opinion, (the rezoning) doesn’t align with surrounding uses and could compromise future land development for Calamos and Naperville as a whole,” Landis said. “Not much overall land is available in the area. For that reason, we again reiterate we can’t support the rezoning request.”
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