The Village of Mundelein in Illinois needed a new Village Hall, envisioning the building as the beginning of a true mixed-use downtown area. Weston was seeking a new Chicago-area office location and saw the development potential and mutual benefits of partnering with the Village. We stepped forward to help the Village through the entire development process. In exchange for our upfront planning assistance and commitment to lease a portion of the Village Hall for its planned office long-term, the Village sole sourced the environmental, design, and construction work of the Village Hall to Weston. Design and construction of related infrastructure work as well as an environmental investigation and cleanup were also completed by our team.
Weston established early alignment with the Village’s goal to develop a new Village Hall on a local brownfield site; a programming charrette ensured a shared vision for what the new Village Hall would look like and how the space would be used. A design charrette brought greater clarity to the design and reflected the Village’s theme of “rooted in the past, reaching for the future.” The local Weston office, regarded as a center of excellence for infrastructure and green development made key resources readily available. A design and build approach allowed construction bidding while the final design was being finalized, thus saving significant redevelopment time. In essence, integrated project partnership allowed Weston to:
- Anchor the development of a true downtown with a new municipal building.
- Align elected and Village officials through programming and design charrettes, weekly meetings.
- Solve financial challenges with long-term lease to secure funding.
- Drive redevelopment schedule with design and build approach and integration of infrastructure improvements.
- Achieve sustainable development by employing green demolition and construction techniques.
The building received a gold certification established by the U.S. Green Building Council in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)® building rating system. The project has been highlighted by the Urban Land Institute as a particularly unique and creative approach to suburban brownfield and transit-oriented development. The long-term lease by Weston for its local headquarters provided the following benefits to the Village:
- Enabled the Village to easily finance the development
- The Village was able to requisition upfront planning work from a trusted development partner
- Job creation and other economic benefits in a community anchored by a national engineering and environmental solution company.
