More senior housing approved in Gurnee

Gurnee trustees have given final approval for another residential development for seniors, this time for a project pegged on the village’s west side, along Hunt Club Road just north of Washington Street.

To be built by Ryan Companies US Inc., the 101-unit Thomas Place of Gurnee complex will be targeted for residents 55 and older in what’s billed as an independent senior living facility.

Ryan intends to have Thomas Place ready to open in summer 2012.

“It’s a tax-credit program (for the developer), so the rental rates are made affordable for the prospective residents,” Gurnee Village Administrator James Hayner said during a recent meeting at which the plan gained final approval.

Village board members this year already have greenlighted two other senior housing developments: Heritage Woods of Gurnee and Theresa’s Home Care.

Theresa’s Home Care will serve 20 clients in a 6,000-square-foot, single-family house on Cunningham Court in the Chelsey Crossing townhouse development near Hunt Club Road.

Heritage Woods will include 33 studio units and 72 one-bedroom abodes on East Grand Avenue. Developers say it will be affordable senior housing for residents expected to be at least 85 years old.

As for Thomas Place of Gurnee, plans call for 33 one-bedroom units and 68 with two bedrooms. At least one occupant will be required to be 55 or older, and no one younger than 20 can reside in the three-story structure.

Under the agreement with Gurnee, Thomas Place will provide 101 indoor parking spaces and another 51 outside for general use.

Mayor Kristina Kovarik said she’s heard from several residents eagerly anticipating the opening of Thomas Place. She was enthusiastic about the location at Washington and Hunt Club.

“This is going to change that corner so much,” Kovarik said. “It is going to look just beautiful.”

Elsewhere in Lake County, a state-issued supportive-living license has been granted for a four-story, 94-room facility along Rollins Road in Round Lake Beach. In Grayslake, Mercy Housing Lakefront of Chicago is seeking approval to build a four-story, 70-unit senior apartment building on Route 120 just east of Alleghany Road. The advisory Grayslake zoning board of appeals will continue a public hearing April 25 on Mercy’s effort to obtain an amended special-use permit.