Downtown Riverfront Property
Review the Downtown Site Feasibility Study here.(PDF, 12MB)
Background
The former Police Department facility located downtown along the east riverfront, north of the Municipal Building, brings an opportunity for reuse and redevelopment. Its reuse has been under consideration since the Police Department moved from the site to a new station in 2019. A brief timeline of the process is below:
In 2021, the City submitted a Request for Concepts for interested developers to submit proposals for use of the former police station site. After careful review several presentations and discussions, the City Council voted to reject all four proposals received and gave staff direction to hire a firm to conduct a feasibility study to evaluate potential reuses for the site.
In 2023, the City issued a Request for Proposals seeking a qualified firm to conduct a feasibility study and Solomon Cordwell Buenz was selected.
Feasibility Study
The scope of the feasibility study is limited to a technical analysis of the site and includes environmental assessment, geotechnical analysis, floodplain mitigation analysis, utility analysis, demolition costs, traffic study, and parking analysis.
The feasibility study includes a detailed analysis of the site and clearly defines various constraints, both above grade and below grade.
Based on the site constraints, the consultant developed a series of potential development scenarios. These range from adaptive reuse of the existing structure to new residential, commercial, and mixed-use concepts. The study then evaluates each scenarios against several criteria: financial feasibility, density and use intensity, site activation, parking, traffic, site maintenance, and potential revenue. This assessment provides a framework for weighing the trade-offs of each option to better understand potential impacts. The study does not recommend any scenario, but provides a framework and visual examples illustrating how the site could be developed if the City and community determine a preferred direction.
Staff presented the feasibility study to the Planning & Development Committee members on October 13, 2025. A recording of the meeting can be viewed here.
Next Steps: Public Engagement
In December 2025, the City contracted with consultant firm All Together to lead the public engagement campaign for the downtown riverfront property site. Through May 2026, the City and All Together will be leading a community engagement process that will focus on scenarios identified in the feasibility study, gathering input from residents, local business owners, and City officials using a two-step approach.
Phase 1: Completed
The first phase of the public engagement campaign took place during an open house event on February 19. Residents provided feedback on different development scenarios. To accompany the event, an online survey was also released, inviting community members to provide feedback on the scenarios. More than 100 people attended the in-person event, and the online survey received 738 responses.
View the summary of feedback from Phase 1 here.(PDF, 1MB)
Phase 2: In Progress
Phase 2 will provide residents and stakeholders with an opportunity to offer more specific feedback on top development scenarios based on what was learned during Phase 1.
This phase will include a short online survey and another in-person engagement event:
Wednesday, April 8 from 4:00-6:00 PM at St. Charles City Hall, Council Chambers
The in-person event will feature several interactive stations where participants can get more information about the site, explore potential amenities and site features, weigh priorities and tradeoffs, and share ideas about what they would like to see on the site and where those elements should be located.
Interactive activities include:
Site Design Mapping
Participants can place various site amenities (e.g., gardens, stage, vendor kiosks) on a printed site map to show what they want and where. Maps will rotate throughout the evening, producing multiple snapshots of community preferences.
"Fund Your Vision" Priority Voting
Participants will receive $10 in play money and distribute it across labeled jars representing potential site amenities. The totals at the end of the event will produce a priority ranking.
"What Would You Trade?" Tradeoff Exercise
Participants will place a dot on a spectrum between competing priorities, such as more programmed event space versus passive green space, or more on-site parking versus more park space. The exercise will help identify what people are willing to give up, not just what they want.
No RSVP is required to attend. For more information, please see the event on the City's Facebook page.
In addition to the in-person event, an online survey is available to provide feedback on the site, including site design options, amenities, and site features.
Click here to take the survey.
Questions about the project? Please contact Derek Conley, Economic Development Director, at dconley@stcharlesil.gov.