Mount Prospect is interviewing four development groups that submitted plans to redevelop the vacant former Chase Bank building at 111 E. Busse Ave., with one team already in front of the Village Board and three more scheduled in the week ahead. The village, which has owned the empty six-story office building since buying it for $5 million in May 2025, says it still has not picked a developer or approved any redevelopment proposal for the downtown site.
According to the Daily Herald, one development team was interviewed Wednesday, with three more sessions set for the following week. The Village Board is scheduled to wrap up interviews with all four finalist teams on Tuesday, November 10, in closed session, according to the Village of Mount Prospect. The village has said the closed-door format is meant to protect competing firms' proprietary designs and financial information from rivals during the evaluation process.
The property sits two blocks west of Owen Park, across the street from the Mount Prospect Historical Society, and just southeast of the Mount Prospect Public Library, according to The Real Deal. The vacant office tower holds roughly 71,000 square feet spread across six stories, a figure corroborated separately by Journal & Topics. Sources differ on the exact size of the lot itself — the Daily Herald has put it at 2.18 acres, while the village's own fact-check portal describes it as 2.15 acres.
A Pivot After an Earlier Round Fell Short
This isn't the village's first attempt to find a partner for the site. Mount Prospect officials determined that proposals submitted under an earlier process did not sufficiently deliver the mix of uses and development components the board was seeking, prompting the shift to a Request for Qualifications process instead, the Daily Herald reported in August. That RFQ approach, per Journal & Topics, is built around identifying the right development partner first, then collaboratively refining the project together — rather than locking in a detailed design upfront.
The new qualifications-based approach also leans harder into for-sale housing. The RFQ places greater emphasis on for-sale residential options like condominiums and townhomes, along with destination-oriented commercial uses, according to the same report from the station's regional outlet. The Mount Prospect Village Board has specifically said it wants a for-sale residential element included in whatever ultimately gets built on the site.
What Residents Want to See
Public feedback gathered during the search has consistently pointed toward open space. Residents have told Journal & Topics they want public gathering spaces, green space and public parking worked into any eventual plan, and the village separately identified adding green space and public gathering concepts as a key objective during a site tour it held for interested developers on September 3. The village has said it remains open to either renovating the existing office building or tearing it down entirely for new construction.
A proposal that appeared briefly on social media stirred some controversy before it was removed. The post reportedly depicted a six-story, 24-unit condominium building, 24 townhomes on Maple Street, an underground parking garage, and a town center replacing an above-ground parking lot, though the village has not confirmed those renderings as an approved design. Trustee Vince Dante said circulating the images before trustees had reviewed them created an unfair advantage for that developer, while Mayor Paul Hoefert said the posting was most likely inadvertent or the result of someone being overeager, according to The Real Deal.
What Happens Next
Once interviews conclude, the Village Board has three options on the table: selecting a preferred developer, requesting additional information from one or more teams, or choosing not to move forward with any proposal at all, per the village's own account. If the project does advance, Mount Prospect has said it anticipates further opportunities for public input, including an open house with whichever developer is ultimately selected, followed by formal public hearings and approvals.
