Glen Ellyn to buy property for commuter parking
Glen Ellyn will buy a vacant property in the village's downtown to be used for as many as 55 parking spaces for Metra commuters.
It's expected to help reduce the demand for parking near the busy train station, where there's a two-year waiting list for first-available permit parking spaces and a seven-year waiting list for premium spots.
The property at 460-478 Duane St. was to be used for construction of seven townhouses in 2009, but the development never occurred and the property went into foreclosure.
The village, meanwhile, had been looking for a space to build a new commuter parking lot, having received a federal grant for that purpose in 1999. At the time, the village was eyeing a formerly vacant property at Western and Pennsylvania avenues, but Harris Bank bought the land and located there.
Now, Metra officials have told the village that the $780,000 grant from the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program will expire if it isn't used soon.
That money would be used to offset the price of purchasing the space and constructing the lot, expected to be $1.045 million leaving the village with $270,000 left to pick up. Officials say revenues from the village's parking fund or tax increment financing could cover the cost.
The property's list price was originally $1.2 million, but that was reduced in 2010 to $825,000, and this year, to $500,000. The village has negotiated a purchase price of $445,000, said Staci Hulseberg, the village's director of planning and development.
Hulseberg said the site is not a prime location for retail development since it is separate from other retail spots downtown. Office or residential development could be workable; however, she said the parking lot would be a suitable permanent or interim use for the site until the economy improves.
Should some other type of development locate on that site, the commuter parking spaces would have to be relocated elsewhere in the downtown area at a site agreed upon by Metra and the Federal Transportation Authority, for a total of 40 years, per the funding agreement.
The village anticipates $20,000 in annual revenue from selling parking permits, expected to be about $280 per year. The new lot, like other lots downtown, are available to the public at no cost after 11 a.m.
Hulseberg said an environmental study shows the property to be clean. The lot will be constructed with environmentally-friendly permeable paving.
Federal officials will review the funding agreement over the next six weeks, and once the grant monies are in hand, the village will select an engineer to begin design work on the lot.