The coronavirus pandemic has had its effect on plans for a new assisted living facility on Aurora’s far East Side.
A City Council committee has recommended the final plat and plans for Melody Town Center, development of which could get underway as early as next fall.
Planning for the development at 75th Street and Route 34 began back in 2019, when the city rezoned the property from commercial to residential.
Now that the first phase of the development is imminent, Laura Hester, vice president of senior housing for Cedarwood Development Inc., an Ohio-based company, said recently that COVID-19 had its influence over the development.
It’s well-documented that the pandemic has taken a hard toll on group homes, such as Melody, with its 63 assisted living units and 26 memory care units, would be.
Hester said that influenced Cedarwood to create a visitor space in the development that would be separated from the rest of the building, using outside air and ventilation. It would allow families to visit even in the case of a disease outbreak.
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“It’s something we’ve come up with in response to COVID,” she said. “But it would be helpful even with the flu.”
The pandemic also has influenced the timing of the development. While Hester said the company hopes to get started in the fall, that could carry into the spring of 2022, because the market for some building materials has been “crazy.”
“It will be within the year,” she said.
Hester described the plans for the assisted living and memory care center as “heavily-laden with amenities,” such as walking paths, courtyards and play yards for grandkids.
“It’s really family friendly,” she said.
The 90,000-square-foot center will have one- and two-bedroom units.
In addition to the center, the second phase of the development is planned to have commercial buildings and an age-restricted independent living facility.
It is part of the second phase – for which plans are not ready yet – that the city will extend Commons Drive through the development, making the road run from Montgomery Road to the Route 59 train station. It is seen as a main artery through the far East Side to help relieve traffic on Route 59.
Aurora entered into a redevelopment agreement in 2019 with Cedarwood that includes a tax increment financing district. The TIF district was established to fund construction of the Commons Drive extension, city officials said.
Officials believe the assessed value will increase on the property with the development, from its current value of $61,140 to somewhere between $17.2 million and $25.8 million.
But without the TIF district, city officials said the land might not develop at all. The property at 75th Street and Route 34, known as the triangle, has been vacant for years and had several proposals there fizzle.
Recently, members of the City Council Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee were happy with the site plan and building floor plans for Melody Town Center.
Ald. Robert O’Connor, at large, said he was glad the center will be run by Cedarwood, rather than farmed out to a management company.
“That’s a very good part of what I think is a very good overall plan,” he said.