DeKALB – The DeKalb City Council is accepting proposals for the purchase of vacant land in the North Annie Glidden neighborhood, adjacent to NIU’s Greek Row.

The plot of land on the corner of Hillcrest Drive and Blackhawk Road has been the subject of the Annie Glidden North Revitalization Plan, created in 2018 by urban planning group Camiros Ltd.

In the meeting, the council suggested potential uses for the land studied by Camiros Ltd., including a market space for fresh produce, a bakery and coffee shop or a police station staffed by NIU Public Safety and DeKalb police.

“We’ve invested a lot of money for this at this point,” City Manager Bill Nicklas said. “I’m not suggesting that we be in haste to decide what might be the best project. I think we should go out for an ample amount of time for the notice of our interests.”

Mayor of DeKalb Cohen Barnes said the council has spent millions of dollars assessing the lot and its potential impact on the neighborhood.

“So to be clear, anything’s on the table,” Barnes said. “We’ll accept any proposal really. We have spent millions on this … I’m really looking to seeing what proposals come forward.”

IN OTHER NEWS

DeKalb City Council discussed changing bus fares, but ultimately recommended the city transit department keep fares at their current prices.

Bus fares were temporarily halted during the COVID-19 pandemic and reinstated in May of 2022.

“The fares that were reinstituted generated in six months time about what they generated in a year back in 2019,” Nicklas said, “We’re not recommending any increase in the fare, and we think that that’s adequate.”

DeKalb and NIU entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement for integrated transit services in October 2018, allowing the city to oversee operations of the Huskie Line while the university pays for 40% of the bus system funding, according to the DeKalb Public Transit official website.