Wheaton seeks to improve near-vacant subdivision

Three years after the former Sunny Ridge Family Center campus in south Wheaton was cleared of hundreds of trees to make room for 33 single-family houses, only one building stands at the site.

The street and sidewalks were never finished. Weeds are growing on vacant lots originally meant for upscale homes. And many of the trees that were planted as replacements already have died.

Now the city is stepping in to prevent the nearly empty subdivision along Orchard Road from becoming even more of an eyesore.

The city council on Tuesday is expected to hire Copenhaver Construction Inc. to complete a list of improvements to the 14-acre site, which is dubbed Amberwood Estates.

If the contract is approved, the Gilberts-based company will be paid roughly $241,000 to put a final layer of asphalt on Landon Circle, install sidewalks, replace dead trees, reseed undeveloped lots and make other upgrades.

City Manager Don Rose said the work is needed because it doesn't appear any new houses are going to be built there anytime soon.

"The development was originally contemplated to be a high-end development," Rose said. "There isn't any work going on in major subdivisions of that nature almost anywhere. So until the economy improves and people have the money to buy and developers can borrow money - which is certainly another major problem right now - to develop land, it could be a number of years before you see anything happen out there."

Northbrook-based Ferris Homes had high expectations for Amberwood Estates three years ago when it reported on its website that 18 of the 33 lots were sold.

Then the entire housing market took a plunge. "It certainly got far worse than anybody thought it would," Rose said.

Paul Redman, Wheaton's director of engineering, says only nine of the lots are owned by individuals. Harris Bank, which foreclosed on the property last year, owns the rest.

After unsuccessful attempts to get Ferris Homes to complete the subdivision improvements, the city gained access to roughly $271,000 from the developer's letter of credit, officials said. That money is what Wheaton is using to pay Copenhaver Construction to do the improvements.

Before the property was clear-cut in 2007, it had more than 400 trees and neighbors used it as an unofficial park. Wheaton Park District actually wanted to buy the land from Sunny Ridge, but was outbid by developers who then sold it to Ferris Homes.

Redman concedes the property won't be as scenic as it once was. But officials are hopeful the improvements will make it prettier than it is now.

"We want it to look better than most vacant subdivisions," Redman said.