One Winnetka plans April groundbreaking after earning final approval

Stop if you’ve heard this before: Plans for the large-scale development coined One Winnetka were in front of village trustees for review.

But this time may have been the last time.

Winnetka’s Village Council during its Tuesday, Jan. 21 meeting approved an ordinance granting final approval to the plans for the four-story, mixed-use upcoming development in the heart of town.

Winnetka Village President Chris Rintz said Tuesday’s review was the third time he’s sat on a Village Council that has reviewed a development agreement for the One Winnetka project. Rintz, along with the entire council, is hoping Tuesday was the last.

“Let’s hope the third time is the charm because I’m getting tired of hearing about this project,” Rintz joked near the end of the Jan. 21 meeting.

Trustees’ latest review of the project was meant to determine if the developer’s final set of plans for the long-debated endeavor “conforms substantially to the approved preliminary plans,” per village documents.

As previously reported by The Record, Winnetka trustees put their stamp of approval on preliminary project plans in March of 2024, ending more than a decade’s worth of discussion, hundreds of hours of deliberations and dozens of public meetings regarding one of the most prized redevelopment opportunities in New Trier Township.

While the final plans approved Tuesday did not include any major changes to the project, the development team did make some slight tweak, which were reviewed by trustees during the meeting.

Those changes include, but are not limited to, a two-foot increase to the building’s height, a two-spot reduction in the number of residential parking spaces (113 to 111), changes to window and door fenestrations on all levels, and multiple tweaks to parking agreements on Elm Street.

Project developers now have the green-light to move forward with the anticipated construction schedule that they previously provided to the village and reiterated during their final submission. Construction is slated to begin in April of this year and planners are targeting October of 2026 for completion.

“We really wish you the best here,” Rintz said, striking a more serious tone. “The takeaway from all of our meetings is that now you’re one of us. So just be a good neighbor because we’re in a tight community here and there is a lot of stuff going on downtown and we really need everyone to just pull together and be patient and respectful of each other and understand that this isn’t forever.”

A small group of residents who live nearby the property addressed the board earlier in the meeting during the public-comment portion. While the residents largely expressed feelings of overall support for the project, they also expressed concerns regarding parking/traffic patterns, air quality during demolition and construction, and rodent and pest abatement.

Project details

The One Winnetka development site has been the subject of several project pitches for the better part of a decade. The plan trustees approved last March rather closely mirrors what was amended for the council in early 2023 when the proposal gained momentum.

Now-approved plans call for no more than 59 residential units, 20,955 square feet of commercial space, and a total of 150 parking spaces — 39 at ground level for the commercial uses and 111 on the underground level for the residential uses.

The project, in its full scale, aims to give new life to a series of vacant properties along the southeast corner of Elm Street and Lincoln Avenue.

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