Townhouse development near Naperville school gets plan commission OK
A homebuilder has received a thumbs-up from Naperville plan commissioners for a proposed townhouse community.
M/I Homes wants to build 68 units on a property sandwiched between Crone Middle School and its recreational fields to the east and single-family homes to the west.
Last month, the city council approved the company’s plans for a 64-unit project north of Warrenville Road. Now, M/I Homes, whose regional division is in Naperville, is looking to redevelop roughly 10 acres — the site of a landscaping supply center — on the south side of 111th Street.
“This type of housing product provides some diversity,” said Russ Whitaker, an attorney for the development team.
Known as Everly Trace, the development would include 26 two-story townhouses designed in a “farmhouse style.” The starting price for units in that series will be about $450,000, Whitaker said, though he added that many people purchase upgrades, so “don't be surprised if these are selling” into the $500,000s.
M/I Homes will offer different floor plans, including those with first-floor master bedrooms and geared toward seniors. Whitaker said the population is “generally aging.”
“We've got these enormous subdivisions that have been wildly successful,” he said, citing Ashbury and Tall Grass as examples. “These are predominantly single-family homes built at a time when people were, frankly, flocking to Naperville, flocking to south Naperville because of schools. We've seen people age in place, though.”
Moving into a “lower-maintenance product, like townhomes, like multifamily units, provides an off-ramp for a lot of these seniors that are in the south Naperville market,” Whitaker said.
The proposal also calls for 42 three-story units along the east property line abutting the Crone Middle School fields.
Planning and zoning commissioners earlier this week recommended approval of the requested entitlements for the development.
In addition, the city council will consider a request to annex the property, which now includes a landscape supply store, a large storage yard and farmstead buildings, into Naperville’s boundaries. Bridge Street Properties has a contract to purchase the property and is preparing it for development.
Residents in the Ashwood Creek subdivision, however, have concerns about traffic congestion, the density of the development and the impact on schools.
“We understand and want the neighborhood to be finished, just finished with single-family homes, not the townhomes, because of the overpopulation that we think it will cause,” said Jeff Doden, president of the Ashwood Creek Homeowners Association board.
Whitaker said the development is projected to generate 27 students. Indian Prairie Unit District 204 has reviewed the proposal and does not oppose the petition, according to a city memo.
“That is important to us as planning and zoning. And at this time, I don't have any reason not to vote ‘yes,’” Chairwoman Whitney Robbins said.
She acknowledged neighbors’ concerns as “valid.”
“And I would take them further as a resident,” she said, “but from a planning and zoning perspective, I think it looks great.”