New senior housing campus proposed in West Dundee
A new senior living facility proposed in West Dundee aims to address a housing demand for the community's aging population, developers and property owners said.
A concept plan presented to the village board last week calls for constructing a roughly 200-unit residential campus on 12 acres at Route 31 and Angle Tarn.
The project would contain a mix of independent living, assisted living and memory care suites and services in separate wings, but remain under one roof to ensure operational efficiency, said project manager Jacob Wolfgang, of Iowa-based Nelson Construction and Development.
The senior housing campus would fill a gap in West Dundee's housing stock, which has options ranging from starter homes and apartments to single-family residences, said Village President Chris Nelson, who is not associated with the development group.
"Where we're lacking is kind of that end point where people have lived here 30, 40, 50 years and want somewhere to go, a transition to still stay in this area," he said. "With this type of development, I think it allows for kind of a spectrum of housing."
Trustees expressed early support for the concept plan, directing the development group to begin the village's official approval process. Plans for the senior housing campus will now go to the planning and zoning commission before the village board makes a final decision.
The site currently belongs to the Haeger Estes family, who founded and operated the now-shuttered Haeger Potteries in East Dundee. Fourth-generation company owner Lexy Haeger Estes and her husband, Craig Zachrich, have been partitioning sections of their estate the past couple of decades for development purposes.
Pieces of the Canterfield property, which encompasses hundreds of acres along the Route 31 corridor, have been developed as multifamily housing and single-family residences. Zachrich and Haeger Estes also are planning to create a corporate campus on the far south side of the village.
The proposed senior living facility fits well with that mix of uses, they said, noting developers are required to adhere to architectural standards and restrictions set for all Canterfield sites. It would be built across the street from the Haeger Estes homestead, which will remain in the family.
"We feel that senior living needs to be addressed in our community but also within our project," Lexy Haeger Estes said. "It's one of the pieces of the puzzle that we've always wanted."
The project is similar to a previously approved 149-unit development called Bright Oaks of West Dundee, which was proposed for Route 31 and Willow Lane but never got off the ground for financial reasons, said Tim Scott, community development director.
The Nelson Construction and Development project is expected to offer courtyards and green space throughout the property, as well as a substantial landscape buffer to screen an adjacent single-family neighborhood, documents show. Assisted and independent living wings would be three stories, while the memory care units and the facility's common area will be single-story structures.
Nearby resident Michael Fries expressed concerns over how the development would affect the quality of life in the adjacent subdivision.
The development team still has "a long way to go," Haeger Estes said, but she expects the campus to be quiet and aesthetically pleasing, and have minimal traffic. She and Zachrich recently visited one of the seven other senior housing projects completed by Nelson throughout the Midwest.
"We're extremely impressed with the (services) and the facility and the detail they have taken in caring for their residents," Haeger Estes said. "We feel this (West Dundee) community is going to be such a lovely amenity."