Supportive living pitched for Round Lake Beach
A chunk of land along Rollins Road in Round Lake Beach once envisioned for a large shopping center is being considered for a senior residential facility.
The Crown Group in cooperation with Pathway Senior Living LLC, has revived plans for 10 acres on the north side of Rollins for the $18 million to $25 million Oak Hill supportive living facility. The site is between Orchard and Nicole lanes.
A public hearing on the plan for a four-story building with 94 rooms will continue at 7 p.m. Thursday before the village's planning and zoning commission at village hall off Hook Drive west of Route 83.
The Hoffman Estates-based company, which built a Walgreens in town and owns the Regal Cinemas, has owned the property for years.
It originally was considered for a shopping center development but that fell through. Crown decided to pursue a supportive living project, a state backed program offering an alternative to nursing home care for low-income seniors and others with physical disabilities.
Under the proposal, which would require a special use permit in the commercial area, Crown would build and own the facility and Pathway would operate it.
The size of the building and number of units is the same as discussed during an initial presentation, but details involving access roads, water detention, emergency access and other considerations have to be settled.
"It's still a work in progress," said Jon Wildenberg, the village's director of economic development.
Supported living is for seniors 65 and over who can no longer live safely in their own homes and need assistance with bathing, dressing and medication management, for example.
The state's Medicaid program pays a portion or all of the medical care for eligible residents.
Most of the supported living facilities are built with federal low income housing tax credits, which provide financing for the project and make low-income rental housing feasible.
"Affordable assisted living is really what it is," Terri Geppner, Pathway's director of community relations, told the commission in the initial presentation.
The company operates 10 communities in Illinois and is a partner in the Victory Centre of Vernon Hills, which is expected to break ground this summer.
A federal report issued Wednesday described new residential development in the Chicago area as minimal. However, supported living projects are getting attention here.
Four of the 18 supported living facilities approved this year by the state are in Lake County. Besides Round Lake Beach, the others are in Grayslake, Lake Zurich and Gurnee.
Since the market is at or near saturation, Lake County has decided to let its supported living facility license for Winchester House expire and will pursue a different type of arrangement there.
"In really, really down periods, these subsidized properties are sort of the only game in town," said Steve Hovany, president of Strategy Planning Associates, Inc., based in Schaumburg.