What's Moving Into Lincolnshire's Old Furniture Stores on Milwaukee Avenue

In early September, employees at the Jungle of Niles store on Golf Road started moving as many as 20,000 plants, birds, fish, bunnies and turtles to a new address in Lincolnshire. The Journal & Topics reported that they had to be out of the 115,000-square-foot Golf Glen space by September 8. Owner Neil Weiss told the paper the hard part was not the plants. "The hard part is the building of places for the animals."

The new address is 625 Milwaukee Avenue, the former Penny Mustard furniture store. Two other buildings on the same stretch of Milwaukee are being refilled in a similar way. A former shoe store and a former furniture showroom are becoming places to take children for an afternoon. The biggest of the three now depends on how its plans fit beside the homes behind it.

Three buildings along the same stretch

All three host or plan to host children's parties, and two of the three include a café.

625 Milwaukee is already open

Jungle of Plants took about 40,000 square feet of the former Penny Mustard building. The Village describes it as a plant, garden and seasonal décor business with exhibits of small animals, birds and fish. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. At the October 12 Village Board meeting, Mayor Brandt said the business "offers more than plants." She listed exotic birds, various animals, classes and children's parties.

The store joined Village events within weeks of arriving. The same Village Board minutes show Jungle of Plants signed on to run a kids' craft at Boo Bash at North Park on October 30. According to the business's social posts, a ribbon cutting was set for November 3, and Plant Bingo follows on Saturday, November 14, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 per person, there are animals to meet, and everyone leaves with a plant. Check with the store before you go, since event details can change.

The former DSW at Lincolnshire Commons

Playroom Café's space is 14,500 square feet in the old DSW at 970 Milwaukee Avenue. The Village Board approved its special-use permit on May 11. The Village's fall 2026 newsletter describes it as an indoor recreation and family entertainment venue with interactive play areas, private party rooms and a café/bar. Earlier Zoning Board minutes say the play areas are for children from newborns to age 12.

Playroom Café also has locations in Mount Prospect, Naperville and Hoffman Estates. Lincolnshire Commons is its fourth address. Because it sits in a shopping center, its approval drew little debate. The building down the road was a different case.

725 Milwaukee has neighbors on the other side of the trees

The Urban Air applicants plan a 48,286-square-foot Urban Air Adventure Park in the former Tom's Price building. It sits at the southeast corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Knightsbridge Parkway, inside the Rivershire planned unit development. At the September 8 Zoning Board hearing, the applicants described go-karts, laser tag, trampolines, slides, an arcade and birthday party rooms. They expected up to 200 visitors on weekdays and 400 on weekends. The nearest house in the Rivershire subdivision is about 95 feet from the building, with a wooded buffer between them.

The October 13 staff memo gives updated hours:

• Birch & Bean Café: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
• Adventure park, Monday to Thursday: 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• Adventure park, Friday to Sunday and school breaks: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Parking: grows from 80 spaces to 118

At the September hearing, Rivershire residents and an attorney for the homeowners association raised concerns about traffic, lighting, noise, safety and a raised green area that the parking expansion would remove. The Zoning Board continued the hearing to October 13 so the applicants and the HOA could meet. On September 30, the HOA sent seven requests. In the October packet, the applicants agreed to four of them in full or in part:

• The adventure park would open no earlier than 10 a.m. The café would still open at 7 a.m. for morning commuters.
• The berm plantings along the south property line would stay, with new evergreen screening.
• Trash would go in the existing enclosed garbage area.
• A lighting plan keeps light levels below the Village Code maximums.

They declined three. They would not accept a permanent ban on alcohol, saying alcohol is part of the planned café menu and any liquor license would go to the Mayor and Village Board. They would not give up the option of a future patio facing Milwaukee Avenue. They also kept the 118 parking spaces instead of the HOA's smaller layout. In September, the applicants had told the board they did not plan to serve liquor in the immediate future. Village staff's packet recommended that the Zoning Board send the Village Board a favorable recommendation.

Each part of the project goes to a different body:

1. Zoning Board: reviews the special use permit and advises only.
2. Architectural Review Board: reviews the parking lot design, building elevations, plantings and lighting.
3. Village Board: makes the final decision, and separately rules on any liquor license.

Residents can comment again at both of the later stages. The Village projects a fall 2027 opening.

Why recreation, and why here

The September minutes help explain why so much of the corridor is going to entertainment. Zoning Board member Kalina noted that the Rivershire PUD already allows some busier uses by right, including restaurants with drive-throughs, without any public hearing. Chair Pro Tem Josephson noted that a grocery store had earlier been interested in 725 Milwaukee and could bring far more daily car trips. Trustee Kelly said the Village Board would weigh the neighbors' concerns alongside recreation for Lincolnshire families and potential amusement and sales tax revenue. An adventure park brings revenue the Village values, and it doesn't bring the all-day traffic a supermarket would. That is the trade-off the Village Board will be weighing.

The grocery idea has not left Milwaukee Avenue. Park to Shop expects to open a grocery store at 475 Milwaukee in spring 2027, though as of the fall newsletter the owner was still working out logistics and had not applied for a building permit. Further along the corridor, Mayor Brandt told the Village Board on October 12 that the Milwaukee-facing part of the 4 Overlook Point property may come back as a planned unit development for retail redevelopment.

Before any of it, December 4 at Village Green

The next big family gathering is the Village's own. Lincolnshire Lights runs Friday, December 4, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at 100 Village Green. The fall newsletter lists a drone light show, performances by local school bands and choirs, and Santa. Children can drop letters in a North Pole mailbox. The Village's event page has the latest details. From Village Green, Jungle of Plants at 625 Milwaukee is a short drive for anyone who wants to warm up among the plants on a Saturday.

If you own a home near this stretch of Milwaukee Avenue and want to understand how these new neighbors could shape buyer interest on your street, Cornelia Matache can talk it through with you, calmly and with no pressure. Get your complimentary home valuation and expert consultation whenever the timing feels right.