Village board set to review Fox River Grove redevelopment plan
Fox River Grove's proposed $250 million downtown redevelopment project is moving forward to the village board for review next month.
The village's planning and economic development commission unanimously is recommending approval of the overall conceptual plan and special use permits for all four phases of development, and specific approvals of preliminary site plans for phase one, including engineering, stormwater and landscaping.
The 20-acre downtown redevelopment would comprise a mix of apartments, commercial office space and retail built in four phases along both sides of Route 14 from Algonquin Road on the east to the Fox River on the west.
Overall, the proposed concept plan, by Gart Partners, calls for building roughly 500 apartments, about 90,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, and a hotel/marina.
The first phase of development - estimated to cost about $53 million - would involve building roughly 300 rental apartments on 330,000 square feet of land south and west of Route 14 on several lots along and between Lincoln Avenue and Algonquin Road. The site now is home to a couple of manufacturing companies, four aging apartment buildings, three small houses, and a former lumber yard taken over by a construction company. The developer is in negotiations over several of the properties.
At a recent public hearing, dozens of residents expressed concerns over the proposed development's potential impact on property values and taxes, the use of eminent domain by the village to possibly acquire property within the development area, traffic, and water and sewer capacity issues.
Commissioners urged the developer to conduct a new traffic study since school was not in session when a count was done over the summer.
The traffic impact study, conducted by KLOA Inc., showed no roadway improvements were needed by phase one of the development, said Jordan Glazov, a principal of Northbrook-based Gart Partners.
Glazov said aside from a new traffic study, which will be done this fall, the commission did not seek any major changes to the proposal.
The apartment complex would require variances for building height and density, to which the commissioners were amenable. The proposal calls for three buildings, each 60 feet above grade level with an additional 11 feet for the roof line - the existing village ordinance only allows 35 feet.
Village officials said the developer's proposal for 513 off-street parking spaces is too much for a transit-oriented development. Each building already will have two floors of underground parking.
"These are commuter apartments. Our consultants thought they might have too much parking, too much black top and could maybe lower the parking ratios and add more green space," Village Administrator Derek Soderholm said.
Among the items to be reviewed by the village board is the potential for adding berms/screening and landscaping to buffer nearby properties, building aesthetics, architectural features and site layout, he added.
As for concerns over utilities, the developer has agreed to design and construct sewer, water, street, traffic control and other necessary infrastructure for the entire project and could be reimbursed for some of the costs with funds collected from a special taxing district, Soderholm said.
Work on phase one, originally slated for groundbreaking this fall, likely will begin in the spring.
The three buildings will comprise a total 240 one-bedroom units and 60 two-bedroom units. Rents are projected to be $1,355 for the one bedroom and $1,913 for a two-bedroom unit.
"It's a little above what apartments are going for in the area right now," said Glazov, adding most of the apartments in town are more than 20 years old and low-rise walk ups with outdoor parking.
The village board is set to review the proposal at its Aug. 6 committee of the whole meeting.