Glenkirk, a Northbrook nonprofit that serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, hopes to begin operating in a new 25,000-square-foot home on Dundee Road by spring, CEO Kim Berenberg said Oct. 21.
The Northbrook Village Board granted a special permit and zoning variations on Oct. 8 that will allow the not-for-profit to reduce parking requirements at 3300 Dundee Road by about 21% and eliminate the requirement for a loading dock on the site.
“We’re very happy to be staying in Northbrook,” Berenberg said. “As part of our strategic plan, we made the determination our current building is not fit for our purpose. We were lucky enough to find a building in Northbrook to relocate to. It will serve as the hub of our operations.”
Glenkirk recently sold its current building, 3504 Commercial Ave., to Northbrook, which plans to use it as the village’s fleet maintenance garage after Glenkirk moves out. Under the purchase agreement, the organization may lease back the property until the Dundee Road site is ready.
Glenkirk is paying $6.3 million for the new building, Berenberg said, using $2.3 million from the proceeds of selling their previous administrative building to the village and $1.5 million from a state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grant, planning to raise $1 million through donors and foundations, and borrowing the rest.
Glenkirk is expected to close on the new building in early November.
“We sold our current home,” Berenberg said. “However, we’re staying here. We’re going to lease it back for about a year. It’s going to take some time to go into the new building and make minor renovations to fit our needs. And we have to get it licensed. We’re thinking by spring we will be moved fully to the new space.”
After the new facility opens, Glenkirk will host an open house for community members to view the building and learn about Glenkirk, she said.
Glenkirk serves about 250 people each year, including 120 in its residential program in about 20 group homes throughout the north and northwest suburbs, Berenberg said.
“People interested in learning more can come to our headquarters,” she said. “We provide all types of support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
Glenkirk also offers an in-home respite program that serves about 80 families of children with disabilities, Berenberg said.
“We provide them with caregiving to give the primary caregiver a needed break to go to the grocery store, the doctor or another sibling’s sporting event,” she said. “We hire workers and do background checks and train them in CPR and first aid, and we pay for their services. Respite is one of the main things caregivers need in order to keep their children at home with them.”
Glenkirk, which opened 70 years ago in Glenview, has operated its administrative headquarters in Sky Harbor Business Park for about 40 years, Berenberg said.
The new 3.5-acre Dundee Road site will serve as administrative headquarters and the center of its community-based services, according to the agency’s written explanation of its zoning application. The building’s auditorium will be used for staff and community training programs and events, the report said.
Glenkirk plans to house a small community-based day program and health services at the site, which is intended to be solely occupied by the agency, it said.
The proposed improvements to the facility include building walls in the back section of the building to create discrete spaces for the community day program and health services, residential management, and behavioral health staff, it said.
“Outdoors, accessible sidewalks will be added from the exits at the back of the building leading to the parking lot,” the report said. “Picnic tables will be placed at the back patio of the building to allow employees or participants to take lunch breaks or enjoy the outdoors. There are no other significant outdoor activities planned for the property.”
The parking variation allows Glenkirk to reduce the number of parking spaces from 115 to 91, said Michaela Kohlstedt, deputy director of development and planning for Northbrook.
