Project Overview

In Brief

We have put time and effort into carefully developing plans for the property that are environmentally conscious and low density.

These plans will turn an undeveloped lot into a beautiful site that includes a new place of worship and state-of-the-art school.

The church building is for the local Congregation of approximately 200 members, consisting of 65 families..
The school building will house education areas, a gym, a kitchen, and the school store.
It will educate approximately 25 students from the local congregation, from grades 3 through 12.
The school will have a full kitchen which can be used by students.
The school store contains general merchandise and community literature, school uniforms, and is open to the families who attend the Church and school. It will not sell any alcoholic products.

Project Features

The church building will be approximately 17,295 square feet (sqft).
It will fit the local Congregation of approximately 200 members, consisting of 65 families.
The school building will house education areas, a gym, a kitchen, and the Campus & Co. school store.
It will educate approximately 25 students from the local congregation, from grades 3 through 12.
The school will have a full kitchen which can be used by students.
The Campus & Co. store contains general merchandise and community literature, school uniforms, and is open to the 52 families who attend the Church and school. It will not sell alcoholic products.

New Landscape Plan for Area N

Cooperation and Compromise

Since the inception of the project, we were open and transparent in our cooperation with Village officials, elected leaders, the SBPD, and representatives of the surrounding neighborhoods. Our developers made multiple amendments to the plans to accommodate changes requested by the village and by neighbors. For example:

Acadia Drive -- Although First Responders indicated the importance of Acadia Drive for emergency access to the School, we listened to the neighbors’ objections and decided to eliminate all access from Acadia Road, leaving only the access to Bartlett Road and Route 59.
Architecture -- After being encouraged to incorporate local architectural characteristics into the design—including the Village Hall, the Regency at the Woods Club House, and neighboring residences—we added several architectural characteristics, including dormers, decorative trim and moldings, columns, and cupules.
Landscaping -- We updated the plan to include 74 additional trees and 270 additional shrubs due to concerns raised around the landscaping.
Traffic considerations -- Property entrances are set off of main county and state roads that are constructed to handle significantly more traffic than what is being proposed. We consulted with traffic specialists and provided the findings to the Village. The review concluded that potential traffic from the school and church will be significantly less than previous plans, such as the high-density housing proposed by McNaughton. (A copy of the 105-page traffic report can be obtained from the South Barrington Village.)

Economic Benefits

The development will deliver a substantial positive economic impact for the surrounding communities. We are committed to “buy local” and support communities and businesses through the planning, construction, and operation of the church and the school.

Church members work and purchase goods and services in the communities in which we live and worship. The majority of the construction on Area N will be done by local contractors and materials will be purchased from local sources. Ongoing property maintenance would also be done by local contractors.

OneSchool Global hires professional staff from its surrounding local communities. Furthermore, the Church’s congregants pay local property taxes on their homes.

Aesthetics and the Environment

We have paid close attention to maximizing the aesthetics from inside and outside the development as well as minimizing the environmental impact.

Of the project’s 34 acres, roughly 25 acres will be green space, 5.94 acres of which are wetlands. This is a lower percentage of wetland impact than what was proposed by any other prospective developer of the property. The plans maintain all hydrology considerations for the wetlands and will include fully engineered stormwater management to ensure there is no negative impact to neighbors or surrounding areas.

Finally, all project setbacks are over 150 feet from the closest roadway, ensuring suitable green space buffer.

History of Area N

The parcel of land known today as Area N was purchased by the South Barrington Park District (SBPD) at the direction of village officials in 2004. Area N was a part of a legal settlement following the collapse of a deal with a previous developer. The land remained undeveloped for more than 19 years.

Throughout this period, the Village and the SBPD explored several opportunities to sell the property, none of which succeeded. Multiple developers made bids on the property but ultimately walked away, including offers of $1 million in 2020 and $1.6 million in 2021.The latter was an offer from McNaughton Development, which planned to build a high-density housing complex that would have dramatically increased traffic and disruptions in the area and created substantial environmental impact.

SBPD is required by law to go to referendum to ask for a public vote of approval to auction the property. Voters rejected the proposal in 2018 and 2019 but approved it in 2020.

The successful bid of $1.7 million represented the best legitimate offer in years. Unfortunately, the Park District chose to cancel Fourth Avenue’s lawful contract in September of 2023.

The Park District approved a resolution in November 2023 to re-auction the property. At a well-attended auction held in March of 2024, Area N Development, LLC won the auction with a bid of $2.3 million, the largest ever offered for Area N.

The use of an independent LLC during the bidding process is standard practice for real estate dealings. The Park District finalized the purchase in March.

The Campaign Against the Church

We were highly disappointed with the cancellation of the contract as we had followed all the requirements of the bidding process with full transparency—cooperating with local authorities at every step along the way, soliciting input from the neighbors, and offering a bid well above the land’s previously estimated market value.

Unfortunately, our church was the target of a disinformation campaign orchestrated by outsiders who have a vendetta against the PBCC. These individuals don’t live in South Barrington, and some don’t even live in the United States. They are not interested in the development of the property itself but use the project as a platform to conduct their hateful campaign, which included targeted harassment and the spreading of misinformation about our church and our congregation through social media.

The misinformation being spread in this campaign does a disservice to the Church, the Park District, and other residents of the Village who would benefit from this development. In the words of former Park District Commissioner Shelby Elias, who resigned following repeated personal attacks, their conduct was “completely unacceptable.” (Read Shelby Elias’s letter)

These are the facts about the people attacking us:

The instigator of the attacks on the Area N project is Richard Marsh, who left the PBCC years ago after he killed a mother of three in a car crash, for which he was criminally charged: Read Story.
The courts have confirmed that Marsh is a liar. He has been sentenced to prison in his home country (England) for his repeated contempt of court.
Click to read details of the court judgments against Marsh: Decision 1 and Decision 2.
Marsh has never lived in nor has any connection to South Barrington.
In addition, Marsh often tries to conceal his lies on social media by posting under the fake name “Muhammad Sohail.”

Despite the discriminatory and anti-religious tone of the hate campaign against us, the PBCC congregation is committed to being good neighbors to South Barrington.