After being delayed for several years, the former Bess Hardware site at 1850 Glenview Road is on track for redevelopment.
The former Bess Hardware site at 1850 Glenview Road in its current state on May 3, 2023.
The village purchased the 1850 Glenview Road property for $2.25 million in January 2017 from the family that owned the Bess Hardware store located there. The nearly one acre parcel had been vacant since 2010 when Bess Hardware closed.In 2017, village officials negotiated a land swap agreement with Metra to make the site easier to redevelop. Then in June 2018, trustees approved an agreement to sell the former Bess Hardware site to The Drake Group for $1.
The Drake Group wanted to start construction in spring of 2020. Then came the lawsuit and the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. “The project was a fiasco to begin with,” Barry said. “I would suggest that Glenview is not real good at the real estate business.”