Sun Citians have probably been wondering when, or if, that former Del Webb administration building on Farm Hill Road, which has been vacant for almost eight years, will be revitalized or torn down.
Well, it’s coming back, as a multi-faceted office building.
Preston and Leisl Kaye, owners of Kaye Eye Care located in the building popularly known as the Provena Center on Regency Parkway, last year bought the 25,000-square-foot, one-story structure for just over $1.1 million. They plan to occupy 7,000 square feet of it in their expanding optometry enterprise, and rent out the other 18,000 square feet to a variety of other small businesses.
“We saw a need for an eye care business in Huntley almost 12 years ago, and we have thrived here,” said Leisl. “Now, we have outgrown our space, and we are delighted at this opportunity to expand and remain in this part of the community. We didn’t want to move far, and people in Sun City can continue to drive their golf carts to see us.. We have always wanted to own a building that we occupied.”
Opened in December, 2000, the Farm Hill structure is located on Farm Hill near Cold Springs Drive. It was owned by Centerville Properties for several years before it went into foreclosure in 2005. As Dave Osborn, director of maintenance for First Services Residential, the company that manages Sun City, tells it: “In the early years here, we were using trailers for offices in the Prairie Lodge parking lot before the lodge was finished in 2002. The Farm Hill building was a godsend to us, and we rented it as soon as it was finished in early 2001. We used it for administrative offices and as a customer service center for residents making inquiries and seeking information on their houses and properties.”
Sun City staff offices were later relocated into Prairie Lodge, and eventually the building was vacated by Del Webb by 2005. Soon afterward, the real estate recession hit, and the building was put up for sale. For several years, “for sale” signs facing Farm Hill Road signs told a tale of a struggling commercial real state market.
But eventually, happier times emerged.
“Last year was a mixed bag of bad news-good news for our business,” said Leisl Kaye. “In May, a driver hit the gas instead of the brake and drove a car right into the front of our offices on the ground floor of our building. Luckily, no one was hurt, people in the office where the accident occurred had just left that area a minute before. We had many blessings that day, despite the damage. Then, in September, we finalized our purchase through the use of our Tanglewood Property Company, and in November, we began renovations.
“We have the time, but not the space, to conduct our steadily growing business now,” she said. “We have three doctors and we are medically oriented. We not only dispense eyewear, we treat glaucoma, dry eye, and macular degeneration.” As an example of how their expanding business has led to problems, Leisl invited the Sun Day reporter to an interview in a vacant second floor room that the business now uses for storage. “We ran out of room to store our files and some equipment downstairs,” she said.
The Kayes plan to move into their new quarters in March. Leisl said the building is being gutted, and completely remodeled inside to accommodate a variety of commercial enterprises. “We have had contact with a cardiologist, a financial advisor, an occupational therapist, and an adult day care business,” she said. “We haven’t finalized anything yet, but we hope to get tenant contracts soon.”
“We are designing the spaces in the renovation ourselves, using knowledge gained from my father, who was a general contractor and owned and renovated properties,” she said. “It’s a big challenge, converting a building initially designed for one tenant, into one designed for many.”
The Kayes both were graduated in 1995 from the Illinois College of Optometry, one of only 16 optometry schools in the nation. They lived in Prospect Heights and practiced separately in Arlington Hts. and Vernon Hills before coming to Huntley in 2002.
On the flip side of this story, sits the Provena building. Except for the one room rented by Kaye, this structure’s entire second floor is vacant, as is part of the first floor. Kaye will take its 1,700 square feet out in two months. The building is now in receivership at the Heartland Bank next door, Leisl said. Its situation now is identical to the Farm Hill building’s situation in 2005.
