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player ready...A rental townhouse community planned for the far West Side of Aurora has been granted final approval from the city — but a few things have changed since it got its preliminary approval, including the project’s developer.
The project, previously proposed by GDS Development, LLC, was planned to hold 102 townhouse units across 15 buildings on eight acres on the corner of Constitution and Independence drives that has sat vacant for over 50 years, according to past reporting.
The Aurora City Council in 2022 approved preliminary plans for the development, which was then called the Mews at Orchard Lake.
Final plans for the project, which have now been tentatively approved, have only slight differences to what was originally proposed. For example, all townhouses have garages in the rear instead of some having them in the front, and slight changes were made to building setbacks.
The biggest difference, though, is that the project is now being proposed by developer Heyday, of Arlington Heights.
Heyday principal Ryan Swingruber, speaking at the Aurora City Council’s Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee meeting last week, said that his company was contracted by the family and trust of the now-deceased former developer to purchase the property.
The project, now called Heyday Aurora, will be a mix of two- and three-bedroom townhouses that will all be rentals, according to Swingruber. Each will be two-story and have a two-car garage alongside a driveway for two additional parking spots, his presentation showed.
The development is currently planned to have 114 more parking spaces than the previous plan, Swingruber said, which means there will be less of a parking burden on surrounding areas.
Floor plans included in the presentation showed that, in both the two- and three-bedroom townhouses, the downstairs includes a kitchen, dining area and living room while the upstairs holds the bedrooms. Each floor plan has a similar number of rooms: even in the two-bedroom townhouse, there is an additional room upstairs that can be used as a den or an office, Swingruber said.
The townhouses will have “high-end finishes” that are more like custom entry-level homes, and that’s because Heyday isn’t’ a “merchant builder” that is looking to build then immediately sell the units, he said. The garages are even expected to have electric vehicle charging capabilities.
“We’re long-term holders of these assets,” Swingruber said. “We want to be a part of the communities.”
Heyday’s goal is to be a substitute to home ownership, and the goal of this development specifically is to be a “stepping stone into home ownership” within Aurora, according to Swingruber. He said the company wants to attract younger renters who are looking for something different than the traditional apartment and are saving to eventually buy a home.
Swingruber’s presentation showed that the units are expected to rent for on average $2,920 per month.
According to his calculations, the rent is between 17% and 31% less than monthly home ownership expenses assuming a median home value of $405,500 and between a 10% and 20% downpayment when accounting for mortgage, insurance, property taxes and maintenance.
The development got tentative final approval at the Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee meeting on June 11, but that decision can still be appealed to the Aurora City Council at its meeting on June 24.