Office building proposed for George’s location in Deerfield

By Pat Krochmal pkrochmal@pioneerlocal.com February 24, 2012 2:40PM

A developer is proposing converting George’s What’s Cooking Restaurant into a two-story office building housing physicians’ offices.

Representatives of a developer appeared at a Deerfield Plan Commission meeting Thursday to request a special use and an amendment to a planned unit development ordinance to allow changes at the 350 S. Waukegan Road site.

The restaurant will close shortly because of financial issues, and a group of physicians from Northwest Memorial Hospital want to relocate there, said Lawrence M. Freedman, an attorney with Ash, Anos, Freedman and Logan of Chicago.

The plans for the site don’t change the front of the building much, said Richard N. Gordon, an architect with Interwork Architects Inc., of Northbrook. The entrance of the building will remain where it is. A second floor would top the structure and elevator towers would be added to the outside of the building.

The elevators will not go down to the building’s basement, which has access in the back of the building and will be used only as a storage area. The landscaping and sidewalk around the building will remain the same.

Handicapped parking would increase from seven spaces to nine, Freedman said. Three parking spaces will be lost to accommodate the construction of the elevator towers, but the property still has more than required, he noted.

“It’s a use that would be allowed by zoning, though it will bring us no sales tax,” commission member Robert Nadler said Thursday. “It’s a top retail and restaurant location, but I don’t know if another restaurant would make it there right now.”

Plans for the site will continue to work their way through village requirements until they receive approval.

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Office building proposed for George’s location in Deerfield