Northbrook-based Housing Opportunity Development Corporation, which last year proposed and then withdrew a project to build affordable apartment units in Wilmette, expects to explore alternate proposal options with village residents starting in September, according to Richard Koenig, the corporation’s executive director.
“We’ve been busy working, searching for alternatives” to the 20-unit apartment building first proposed last year for property HODC owns at 1925 Wilmette Ave., Koenig said. “But I’ve promised to go back to the community before proposing a project to the village. We’re trying to figure out when to schedule a series of community meetings, and we hope to do that after Labor Day.”
HODC, which develops and manages affordable housing projects across Chicago’s North Shore suburbs, bought the former Wilmette American Legion Post 46 property in June 2015 for $464,000 and the next month announced plans to develop affordable housing on the lot.
Although village officials and local affordable housing advocates at the time praised HODC’s purchase and plans, the project quickly garnered opposition.
Opponents of the project turned out in droves to a November 2015 plan commission meeting to complain that the three-story project’s 10 350-square-foot studios and 10 one-bedroom apartments of between 529 to 568 square feet were too dense for the site.
Others argued it would lower area property values, add nearby traffic, fail to prioritize low-income Wilmette residents, and bring possible criminals into the village.
More Top Picks Best Electric Food Warmers
After that meeting, Koenig withdrew the proposal, stating in a letter to the village that, “We have heard the concerns of the community and based on issues raised we would like to take time to respond thoughtfully and consider modifications to better meet the needs of Wilmette families.”
HODC held public meetings in December 2015 to answer residents’ questions and to get their input. In February of this year, it loaned the building rent-free to the Wilmette-based Actors Training Center as rehearsal space.
Koenig said in June that HODC officials were looking at the possibility of designing space to serve families, rather than simply focusing on studio and one-bedroom apartments. Another option might be a mixed-use commercial-residential project, he said at the time.
The property, which lies just west of the Wilmette Avenue-Ridge Road intersection, is zoned as neighborhood retail, a commercial zone. As such, a mixed retail and residential-use project could be built without developers having to seek village zoning approval, according to Lisa Roberts, Wilmette’s assistant director of community development.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy