Concept plans for site reviewed

It may take 20 years for Warrenville to recoup the cost of developing a long-abandoned warehouse site, consultants told aldermen Monday.

The assessment came at a joint session of the city council and plan commission, where aldermen struggled to refine their vision for the Musselman Lumber site, which the city bought last year for $2.2 million. The site was named as a top priority by residents earlier this year when the community created a new development plan for key areas.

The triangular Musselman parcel's 4 acres and 51,280-square-foot warehouse sits off Manning Avenue next to the Warrenville Public Library.

This summer, the city council approved a $75,000 contract with consultants S. B. Friedman to help refine the city's vision for the site, then pitch that vision to potential developers.

Tony Smith, of Friedman, and Daniel Grove, of The Lakota Group contractors, outlined two concept plans for the site Monday, which both included plans for about 30 to 40 townhouses and three single-family homes.

"This site gets the tone and gets the ball rolling so that other sites are easier to accomplish," Smith said.

The average home would have about 2,200 square feet, including the garage. One plan had two detention ponds, another had one; one plan had a street with access to Butterfield Road bisecting the new development, the other did not.

Using $200 per salable square foot as the estimated value of the residences, Smith said that a developer would likely pay the city as much as $1.1 million for the land.

To get the property ready for development, though, the city will have to demolish existing structures, make street and water main improvements, and improve parkways and streetscapes. All that will cost between $1.4 and $1.8 million.

Assuming that the created development contributes about $300,000 into a new tax increment financing district, Warrenville will receive as much as $4.9 million in revenue from the project over 20 years. That makes a net gain of about $800,000.

All that being said, Smith told the officials gathered that they had to decide on which plan best illustrated the guidelines developers would have to follow. They city has to choose what it thinks is most important, he said, whether that be open space, articulation of buildings, building height, the number of units, landscaping, parks, upscale material, the use of permeable pavers, or having a self-contained development that isn't intrusive to the existing neighborhoods.

"We have to be practical in what we're willing to accept," Mayor David Brummel told the officials gathered. For example, the less dense the city wants the development, the less attractive it is to a developer.

Once the guidelines are in place, the Friedman group will create requests for proposals to send out to developers. Smith cautioned that because of the current housing crisis, the city should time the release of the RFPs carefully. They shouldn't be sent out until January 2008 or perhaps spring of next year, he said.