Tom Eilers’ Thoughts Winnetka Post Office Site February 11, 2008

& Financing Alternatives

For Other Village Projects

As Doug has properly mentioned, potential funding needs for the Post Office site
pervades/impacts our discussion on financing alternatives for other capital projects, one
of the topics of this study session.

However, my sense is, that the timing of development of the post office site, may not be
as imminent as originally foreseen. To understand that notion, I thought it might be
helpful to summarize where I believe the discussions of the Post Office site has taken the
community.

Some of the following thoughts have been mentioned before. To the extent there is
repetition, it is only to provide a quick context for where we may find ourselves on this
issue today.

A mixed-use development is very problematical:

1. Because of the small size of the site, retail development cannot achieve a scale
sufficient to stimulate more customer traffic. What has revitalized Naperville and
Highland Park, for example, has been the willingness of anchor tenants, or mini
anchor tenants, to relocate into those downtowns. Examples of these types of
tenants would be: Anthropology, Borders Books, Gap Kids, Banana Republic, Jos
A Banks, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Smith & Hawkins, and Restoration
Hardware

The West Elm business district simply does not have the land available for these
retailers, and if it did, it does not have the ability to provide the parking for these
retailers.

2) It is doubtful residential development would revitalize the West Elm district.

Twenty to thirty condominiums simply would not create the critical mass of
population to generate shopping trips. As an example, there was not significant
effect when housing was built at Oak and Lincoln in East Elm, nor when housing
was added at Oak and Chestnut.

3) The barrier blocking renovation and expansion of existing buildings in West Elm
is lack of parking now and no options for expanding existing parking in a
meaningful way on the periphery of the district, adjacent to single family
residential. Accordingly, because of this insurmountable barrier to development,
even an attractive mixed-use development on the post office site would not have a
stimulating development effect elsewhere in West Elm.
For these reasons, the public’s and Village Board’s attention appear to have shifted to the
strong recommendation in the Post Office report to encourage the Library to locate to the
Post Office site.

This would reinforce the 1921 Bennett Plan, although it should be noted that the intensity
of use implied in the Bennett Plan, i.e. a civic building at the west end of the site with two
perpendicular buildings to the north and south, would not be feasible because of parking
constraints not anticipated by Edward H. Bennett, or anyone else, in 1921. Accordingly,
the two perpendicular buildings to the north and south may not be appropriate and in fact,
might actually sever this site from the exiting uses and pedestrian traffic flow in the West
Elm district.

Development plans and timing should not be driven by the expiration of the post office
lease in 2009. The long-term impact of land use for this site will affect Winnetka for the
next Century. There are other elements, such as a) possible relocation of the Library and
b) potential consolidation of the entire site bounded by Elm, Chestnut, Oak and Birch that
are far more significant factors in defining the future of his high profile site.

PARK DISTRICT PARCEL

If you drive in your car to the post office drop off box, and look to your left, and then to
your right, it becomes very clear, that the Village and Park District sites should be
developed as a coherent whole.

In the interests and intent of the Bennett plan, all efforts should be pursued to develop the
Village parcel and Park District parcel as a unified whole. Again, land use decisions for
these parcels will impact Winnetka for the next Century. Any monetary or jurisdictional
obstacles to developing this entire block should be thoroughly explored before
precipitous development proceeds.

LIBRARY

We have been told that the present library facility will be a “dinosaur” in ten years.
Accordingly, the current or near term future library board will be required, by its own
circumstances, to wrestle with capital renovation or relocation decisions. A future library
board will need to decide whether to: 1) renovate the existing facility, 2) build new on the
existing site, or 3) relocate and build on another site.

Accordingly, if the Library Board and public decide to relocate to the post office site, the
cost of relocating to the post office site will not be $9,000,000 but just the incremental
cost of locating on the Post Office site that may be in excess of either a) renovation at the
existing location or b) building new at the existing location. Under these conditions, the
incremental cost to relocate to the post office site would be a much smaller number.
Indeed, if the alternative were to build a new library on the existing site, the incremental
cost may be insignificant.

TIMING

It is in the best interests of Winnetka to assist the Library Board in this analysis, one we
know - in fairness to the process, the public and elected decision makers - will take
several years to accomplish. It would be disingenuous on the part of the Village to on
one hand endorse the concept of the Library’s relocation on the post office site, for all the
sound reasons mentioned in the Post Office Report, and then, on the other hand, insist
this delicate process be decided prematurely because the post office lease expires in 2009.

It does not appear logical nor good business or public planning practice, to have the
expiration of the post office lease drive this decision-making deliberation that will affect
Winnetka for the next Century. This is especially true since the Post Office would be
pleased to have a lease extension to permit this process to continue for the benefit of
Winnetka.

Accordingly, it appears, that if we believe that a civic building should be the primary
structure on the post office site, then the Library is the only sensible alternative (since a
general-use civic building would drain business and recourses away from the Community
House), and the time frame for this decision making process is realistically several years.

TIMING – OTHER PROJECTS/FINANCING

A grasp of this possible longer time frame affects the discussion on financing alternatives
on our agenda tonight. For example, it may not be appropriate to shelve the East Elm
parking deck pending conclusions on the post office site. The factors determining the
timing of the East Elm deck should be: Fell development, commuter parking needs,
Community House needs, and the potential of housing on upper levels that would
subsidize (and significantly reduce) the Village cost of any parking structure.

As Village decision makers, we need to keep the post office site in perspective.
Expectations for the site and its impact on Winnetka should not be raised unrealistically
high, nor serve as a barrier to other vital business before the community.