Elk Grove selling vacant site to builder of affordable senior housing

Once the site of an abandoned orthodontist’s office, a now-vacant plot of land on Arlington Heights Road in the center of Elk Grove Village is envisioned as a new home for seniors on fixed incomes.

Village officials announced plans to sell the 1.2-acre lot at 750 S. Arlington Heights Road to the Housing Opportunity Development Corp., a Skokie-based nonprofit that is developer, owner and manager of affordable housing projects across the northern suburbs.

The village acquired the site via quit claim deed in late 2021 and knocked down retired orthodontist John Riggs’ long-vacant, single-story medical office building. Now plans call for the village to sell the parcel for $300,000 to the developer, assuming it can secure the mix of federal, state and county financing that would keep rents low for prospective residents.

The proposed two-story apartment building would contain about 30 units — mostly one-bedroom residences with some two-bedrooms.

The housing would be age-restricted to those older than 62 who are making less than 60% of area median income. Typical average rents would be $600 to $800 for a one-bedroom apartment and $800 to $1,000 for a two-bedroom.

“The goal with this property is to provide seniors who are on fixed incomes, who want to stay and continue to live in Elk Grove Village, who want to be members of this community, to be able to have a place that they can afford the rent based on what their incomes are,” said Richard Koenig, executive director of the Housing Opportunity Development Corp.

Koenig acknowledged federal fair housing laws don’t allow selection of tenants by geography — whereas age and income are nonprotected categories — but he said those who apply will be on the waitlist maintained by his nonprofit firm.

“Every village asks the same question, and we can’t provide a guarantee,” Koenig said. “What we find is that people who find out about the project, people that know about it, who are interested in living there, are the ones that apply. That they have a connection is why they want to live there.”

Village officials have been talking with Koenig since Mayor Craig Johnson and Trustee Kathy Jarosch attended a meeting of the local interfaith council in December when Koenig presented to the group. The developer has built more than 600 units of housing within 30 developments in 18 communities since 1983.

“We know that’s one thing we’ve needed: affordable senior housing,” Johnson said. “We know that.”

Village board members discussed a couple possible locations that would be prime for the development, but the vacant property on Arlington Heights Road was deemed “perfect,” Johnson said.

He noted its proximity to a long-standing retail strip and other businesses on both sides of Biesterfield Road that residents could walk to.

“It’s a great location in the center of town,” Johnson said.

Next steps include formal review and a public hearing by the plan commission and zoning approvals by the village board in the coming months. Then Koenig’s team would apply for financing — a process that could take at least a year.

Koenig said he doesn’t anticipate acquisition of the property until all funding is approved.