Des Plaines aldermen recently approved revised plans for a town house development in the city’s downtown after rejecting a previous version of the project in January.
Des Plaines aldermen recently approved revised plans for a town house development in the city’s downtown after rejecting a previous version of the project in January.
Earlier this month, the council voted 5-3 on first reading to rezone an almost entirely vacant strip mall, previously the home of Casa Royale Banquets, at 784-841 Lee St. to residential from commercial in addition to approving preliminary plans for a development that would include 58 town houses on the 3-acre site.
In July, Des Plaines Mayor Matt Bogusz cast the tie-breaking vote to allow reconsideration of the project after a revised version was submitted to the city. Developer Lexington Homes reduced the initial number of proposed town houses by four and added an additional 20 off-street guest parking spaces for a total of 30. The zoning change required to allow the project to move forward was initially rejected after city staff expressed concerns about a lack of parking, insufficient masonry and too little retail space in the proposed development.
Despite the increase in the number of guest spaces, parking concerns prompted Ald. Patricia Haugeberg, 1st, and Ald. John Robinson, 2nd, to vote no on the proposed project.
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Robinson said overflow from existing condominium buildings has contributed to a lack of parking in the downtown neighborhood.
“It’s already a mess over there and (the proposed development) is just going to compound it immensely,” he said.
Though each town house is equipped with a two-car garage, the majority are three-bedroom units, and therefore it’s likely each home will include three vehicles, Haugeberg said.
“We’re just going to create a real quagmire in this neighborhood,” she said.
Third Ward Alderman Denise Rodd said the parking provided under the plans was sufficient, and she urged her council members to consider a future Des Plaines replete with walkable neighborhoods.
“We’re going to bring in younger people, millennials who use public transportation to commute to work,” she said.
Rodd said more residential development in the city will in turn benefit Des Plaines’ existing downtown businesses and bring in new ones.
At the same meeting, the council also narrowly approved on first reading initial plans for a proposed development on the former Littlefuse site on Northwest Highway. Plans for the project include 24 town homes comprised of 127 units, and an apartment building with 270 units on a 21-acre site.
When asked whether staff believes these residential developments, if they receive final approval, will actually be rented or sold, the city’s director of community and economic development, George Sakas, said in a recent interview that the developers are experienced builders who conduct marketing analyses and have concluded there’s a demand for this type of housing in Des Plaines.
The city’s downtown “is very close to being fully occupied” as it is, Sakas said.
Additionally, 455 units of proposed new housing in the city is “not a huge number when you consider a population of 60,000,” he said.
Some of the city’s aldermen expressed a desire to see commercial development at both the Lee Street and Northwest Highway sites, but Sakas said a demand for commercial space doesn’t exist.
The city, he said, has a large number of empty storefronts because no one wants to open a traditional retail store, and that phenomena is a national trend, not just a local one.
“The demand seems to be in residential, and the only retail outlets there is a demand for are the ones that provide services,” he said, like restaurants, doctor’s offices, grocery stores and other service-oriented businesses.
The council is due to consider final approval of preliminary plans for both the Lee Street and Northwest Highway projects at a meeting scheduled for Oct. 19.
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.