Aurora hears update on development
Work on a massive downtown development in Aurora continues to move forward, leaders told city aldermen on Tuesday.
Developer Kent Shodeen's EastBank project features 18 buildings housing up to 2,000 residences and 225,000 square feet of retail and commercial space on 33 acres along the Fox River between Benton Street and North Avenue.
The Sho-Deen Inc. project, valued at nearly $600 million, also would have a high-rise hotel, a commuter rail station, a riverwalk, parks, public parking, a bridge and an office park.
It's expected to take at least a decade to complete, and work could start in 2008.
But the complicated project already has faced a few challenges.
The site it would be built on was formerly industrial property and once housed a city dump. Developers have entered a voluntary cleanup program overseen by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
This fall, leaders continued their testing on the land. They hope to do the actual cleanup in May and then receive a "no further remediation letter" from the IEPA and a green light to start building.
Another challenge has involved a ComEd substation on a 3-acre site.
Developers are in negotiations with utility officials to divide and relocate the substation to improve service to residents, said Sho-Deen Inc. President David Patzelt.
On Tuesday, he declined to discuss specifics of the talks, including cost.
"Right now, there's a spirit of cooperation, and I just don't want to tarnish that," he told aldermen.
But the nature of their discussions has been more positive now than they were a few months ago, he said.
Alderman Stephanie Kifowit asked when they would have an estimated figure for the relocation cost, as it may be more than what the city budgeted.
Patzelt said he hopes to have an estimate in the next three to six months.