Carpentersville police say new owners may help complex

Though the ink has yet to dry on a deal, Carpentersville leaders and law enforcement officials say a change in ownership of the village's most maligned housing complex will improve the environment and quality of life for the estimated 1,200 residents who call the Fox View Apartments home.

"We believe this will improve the property out there," Village Manager Craig Anderson said.

Steadfast Companies, a real estate developer headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., is negotiating a contract with Rolling Meadows-based Property Specialists Inc. runs the east side apartment complex known for its crime problems.

Property Specialists could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Details of the sale were unavailable, but Steadfast Residential Properties Senior Vice President Christopher Hilbert told the village board on Tuesday that the company would sink about $45 million on acquiring and rehabilitating the 373-unit public housing complex.

Hilbert said both parties anticipate a late-August closing.

"We want to provide the opportunity for those folks who want to live in Carpentersville, in affordable housing," said Hilbert, whose company oversees two properties in Champaign and other properties in 18 states.

Among the improvements to the complex, which will retain Section 8 status, Hilbert said Steadfast would overhaul the exteriors of all 373-units, renovate bathrooms and kitchens, as well as install and maintain a security system to monitor the parking lot and outdoor common areas of the complex, a stipulation requested by the village.

In all, the developer will spend more than $24,000 per unit, Hilbert said.

To help Steadfast finance the project, the village board on Tuesday approved the transfer of about $3.17 million of the village's volume capital allocation from the state, to the Illinois Housing Development Authority.

Under state statute, the municipality is entitled to $85 per resident to spend on community development projects such as new business development, business expansions or housing projects, said Village Finance Director Lisa Happ.

Since the village did not have a project to work on, the no-obligation bond was initially ceded to the Upper Illinois River Valley Development Authority to support projects that benefit the economic well-being of the region.

That was until the Fox View redevelopment popped up on the radar.

Built in the early 1970s by Kimball Hill Management Co., Fox View has offered Section 8 housing, a federal program that subsidizes rent for low-income people.

But some village officials say the current management has failed to provide services such as adequate maintenance or security.

"We are looking to get a better situation for the people who live there," Carpentersville Village President Bill Sarto said. "There has been a lot of crime on a regular basis and the current Fox View management does not take that development real seriously. We need to get someone more responsible in there."