Downtown apartment, townhouse plan to be up for vote in Lake Zurich
A proposal for apartments and townhouses in downtown Lake Zurich is expected to be up for a village board vote next week.
Foxford Communities wants to build 48 one- and two-bedroom apartments and five single-family townhouses on the northwest corner of Old Rand Road and Main Street.
Under the proposal, Foxford would buy the 1.35-acre site, part of what's been dubbed Block C, from the village for $270,000. It would then invest roughly $350,000 to construct a small park and make other streetside improvements.
Village trustees are expected to consider the Foxford proposal at a meeting Monday night. Last week, Lake Zurich's advisory plan commission recommended approval of the Streets of Somerset project to the village board, which gets the final say.
Planning and zoning commission member Antonio Castillo said Foxford's plan would be a good way to jump start revitalization of the long-struggling downtown that has not attracted commercial development as initially envisioned.
"The reality of it is, for me, if we don't put people in a downtown area, that retail is not going to follow," Castillo said. "Retail will never go in first - never, ever."
However, some residents living in the adjacent Lakeview Place condominiums, also built by Foxford, raised concerns at a public hearing last week. One of them, Alex Samoila, said the village should not give up on having shops and restaurants on the corner. He said he and other condo residents were told they could expect such amenities before they bought their homes near the village's namesake lake.
"This is prime real estate in our downtown area," Samoila said, "and I know that there are other vacant lots, but nothing as good as this to be able to attract the businesses that will bring the type of people who want to spend money in our town."
Residents also cited concerns about parking in the area. In response, the planning and zoning commission recommended the proposed apartments and townhouses be approved with a minimum of two spaces per unit, instead of the originally proposed 1.2.
Since 2002, Lake Zurich has had a special taxing district in place to revitalize downtown by providing a funding source to pay for property purchases, make general improvements and assist with other development-related costs.
Lake Zurich spent an estimated $16 million on property purchases in the district, including Block C in 2004, but its development was stymied by the economic downturn.