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Politics & Government

Downtown Master Plan: (1) Burgess Norton Opportunity Site

Under the Downtown Master Plan, the old Burgess-Norton building would be torn down, in favor of four low-intensity industrial buildings—and Seventh Street would be extended all the way to State Street.

  • Editor's Note: On June 27, the city of Geneva held a meeting to unveil the first draft of its . The plan identifies seven site opportunities for development. This series spotlights each opportunity site and says what present structures would be replaced.

 

Development Concept Overview

The development concept for this opportunity site is to provide a neighborhood-scaled light industrial/business park area that is compatible with the existing residential neighborhood, while accommodating the extension and realignment of an extended Seventh Street.

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What's There Now

The corporate offices of Burgess-Norton Manufacturing Company, 737 Peyton St., are located here. The company website says Burgess-Norton has two product lines, "both of which produce highly engineered components serving key industrial markets." The company was founded in Geneva in 1903 when the core of its business was piston pins. The company introduced powder metal technology in 1954. 

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Desired Use

The desired use for this site going forward is a neighbor-scaled light-industrial/commercial service/business park development that can exist in a manner that is compatible with the surround- ing residential neighborhood. The current light industrial use of the site seems to be accepted by the neighborhood and will likely remain for many years. Any redevelopment of the area presents a unique opportunity for the establishment of newer business park accommodating incubator businesses and smaller industrial and commercial service users that may support Downtown businesses and provide local employment opportunities.

Development Pattern

Any redevelopment of the area should result in building size, massing, and orientation that does not dominate or negatively impact on the surrounding residential areas. As depicted in the development concept site plan, the existing building setback is maintained along Richards Street and the similar building setbacks are maintained along the extended and realigned 7th Street. Rather than one large industrial user, the site should be considered for a coordinated development of multiple smaller buildings more reflective of a contemporary business park with a campus like setting.

Parking, Access, and Circulation

Rather than locating parking lots along the street, parking lots should be located at the rear of the buildings and designed in a manner that provides a coordinated and shared parking area so as to provided better site efficiency and design. With such an approach to parking, curb cuts can be kept to a minimum, thereby enhancing the appearance of the property along the street frontage and providing cross access to alleviate congestion at any one driveway.

Seventh Street Extended

One of the most significant ideas represented in this opportunity site concept is the establishment of an extended and realigned Seventh Street. By extending Seventh Street north of State Street and bending it to align with Illinois Street north of Stevens Street, the neighborhood and this site are better served with a more efficient street network. The extended Seventh Street creates two development sites as it bisects the existing Burgess-Norton site. A bike path is also proposed along the new Seventh Street extension, but then separates north of Peyton Street and extends northeast toward Wheeler Park.

“Green” Development

Redevelopment of this site represents a tremendous opportunity and potential for a LEED project, incorporating sustainable best practices and technologies. As new development is considered, sustainable development practices should be utilized and incorporated to the extent possible.

 

SOURCE: City of Geneva Downtown/Station Area Master Plan prepared by Houseal Lavigne Associates

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