‘Catalyst’ to redevelopment: Apartments, retail coming to Arlington Heights south gateway
Five years after creation of a South Arlington Heights Road corridor plan, Arlington Heights trustees have approved one major piece to that vision - an eight-story, 301-unit apartment building with streetside retail at the south gateway of the village.
The mixed-use project, which received zoning approvals this week, would be built on 3.7 acres at the southeast corner of Arlington Heights and Algonquin roads, where a shuttered five-story office building and three single-story commercial buildings will meet the wrecking ball soon.
“It is a gateway site. It is a blighted and underused property. It is not a great entry to the village right now,” said Charles Witherington-Perkins, the village’s director of planning and community development. “So we are very excited to see this, and we believe this can be a catalyst to additional redevelopment.”
Perkins said the plans presented to the board Monday night were the result of three rounds of revisions after comment by community development department staff. Ultimately, Perkins said the project fulfills almost everything they asked for in the 2018 corridor plan, including a pullback of the sidewalk from the curb to create a parkway, addition of an eight-foot path around the site, and focal points such as a proposed obelisk at the street corner.
The building, developed by Chicago-based real estate firm Bradford Allen and architect/developer Moceri + Rozsak, would have 49 studios, 159 one-bedroom units, 83 two-bedrooms and 10 three-bedrooms.
Rents would range from about $1,500 per month for a typical 530-square-foot studio, to just under $4,000 for a 1,320-square-foot, three-bedroom apartment. The fourth floor would include a range of amenities, including a pool and fire pits outside, and golf simulator, billiards, ping pong, and fitness areas inside.
The project complies with Arlington Heights’ inclusionary housing ordinance, in which 30 apartments will be rented to those making at or below 60% of the area median income.
Nearly 25,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space is being eyed for a possible pizzeria, coffee shop and florist, among other service-oriented retail uses. The developer is trying to get Guitar Center to relocate to the new building - thereby freeing up the music shop’s neighboring building for a future phase of residential development.
“I think we can be successful with the retail component of this,” said Thomas Roszak, the architect and co-developer of the project. “We have to be strategic on what type of retailers we get in there.”
Preliminary site plans submitted to village hall call for a 10-story, 300-unit apartment building with retail - potentially a grocery store - on the Guitar Center site. Another phase envisions an eight-story, 200-room hotel and 12-story, 300-unit apartment building where an office complex is on Tonne Drive.
Bradford Allen is renovating the five-story, 153,000-square-foot former Daily Herald building it purchased, and marketing the space for medical office use. An old parking deck is set for demolition soon.
In total, the developers say it could take up to eight years to redevelop all 16 acres.
Construction on the first apartment building will begin in the spring and is expected to take 18 months.