Central-Main Street Redevelopment Plan 

Setting a New Stage for Implementation

In 2007, the City of West Chicago prepared a redevelopment plan and acquired over eight acres within the study area, but the real estate crash of 2008 prevented much of the plan from being implemented.

Farr Associates’ multi-disciplinary team was selected in 2017 to update the plan to realize West Chicago’s vision to bring transit-oriented development, and with it long-term prosperity, to its downtown. 

The master plan includes key recommendations about density, building heights, stormwater management, parks, and landmarks. Additionally, we developed block-level redevelopment guidance for the area, creating illustrative 3D scenarios for each, which helped guide the city in evaluating developer solicitations.

The plan identifies the city’s primary role as “setting the table for private development,” so it included a number of policy recommendations to allow or encourage desired development in the study area as well as a three-phase implementation guide.