Lake in the Hills to discuss apartment complex on Haligus Road
Lake in the Hills residents can weigh in Monday, June 15, on a proposed 39-unit apartment complex on Haligus Road.
The village planning and zoning commission will review site plans for the proposed development and conduct a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. at village hall, 600 Harvest Gate.
The targeted site is 2.8 acres along the east side of Haligus Road, across from Grafton Farm Drive, which has been vacant for years. The land is owned by Grafton Township and under contract for purchase by the developer, Billitteri Enterprises, LLC.
The developer is seeking rezoning of the site from an open space district to R-4 multiple family dwelling district, and a conditional use permit for a planned development.
Planning commissioners and village trustees reviewed a sketch plan of the proposed apartments in April and May and their reactions generally were favorable.
"The plans are a little more defined," said Dan Olson, village community development director, adding that they will be posted Thursday on the village website.
The proposed complex would have three buildings, each three stories high with one- and two-bedroom units. The plan calls for 93 parking spaces - five less than village code requires - for which the developer would need a variance, according to village documents.
Olson said the developer has requested a reduction in impact fees and permit costs of roughly $230,000.
"We have not done those for residential (projects)," Olson said. "That's not very common at all, but the board seemed to be open to listening."
Grafton Township previously had considered building its township offices on the land in 2009, but the idea was later dropped. The site is designated as "parks/recreation" in the village's comprehensive plan.
"It's been vacant for quite a few years," Olson said.
Crystal Lake developer Joe Billitteri said Monday the project would serve employees of the new Centegra Hospital-Huntley - a 360,000-square-foot, 128-bed facility - and the Centegra Health Bridge Fitness Center-Huntley at the corner of Algonquin and Haligus roads.
The hospital is expected to employ about 1,000 people, per Centegra's website.
"The hospital started off as the main factor why we bought the land and why we are doing this," Billitteri said. "It's within walking distance of (the fitness center) and the hospital."
Billitteri said communities typically have not wanted apartments, but a market study confirmed there is a huge deficit in the area.
"They are talking about, in the report, close to 1,000 apartments we are short in the area, and it's driving up the prices for apartments because people have nowhere to go," he said. "These are market-rate apartments."
Billitteri could not say what rents would be for the apartments.
Olson said the village has other multifamily developments, such as The Villas of Lake in the Hills near village hall. That 60-unit complex on the south side of Harvest Gate also was pegged as an affordable housing project with rents ranging from $700 to nearly $1,000 monthly for one, two and three bedrooms.
"Our comprehensive plan calls for a variety of housing in the village," Olson said.