'Senior-friendly' 300-square-foot apartments coming to Naperville
A plan for studio apartments at the site of an Ogden Avenue motel in Naperville is being promoted as a senior-friendly living option.
The city council on Tuesday night unanimously approved a pitch for 112 "micro apartments" at the site of the Regency Inn at Ogden and Tuthill Road.
Developer Naperville Apartments LLC., an entity controlled by Skokie developer MZ Capital Partners, plans either a total restoration of the 123-room motel or a construction of a new structure after demolition, if it proves financially feasible.
The plan will turn the motel site into apartments of roughly 300 square feet each with common spaces including a coworking center, a lounge, a fitness center and an outdoor relaxation area.
The apartments also are within a 5-minute walk of grocery stores - including an Aldi next-door - a pharmacy, a movie theater, a Pace bus stop and plenty of other stores along the Ogden commercial corridor.
Jim Hill, co-chairman of the city's senior task force, said the micro apartments will fill a need for some of the city's 17,000 seniors who are looking for smaller, cheaper living spaces, as well as for other seniors who might want to move into town to be close to their children and grandchildren.
"It's a struggle to find housing in Naperville that fits their budget, that's close to shopping, that's close to entertainment, that's accessible, that offers single-story living," Hill said, "And this development offers all of that."
Michael Zaransky with MZ Capital Partners said the company will waive the typical apartment application fee for any senior 55 or older who seeks to live at the future apartments.
"We're committed to make this a senior-friendly community," Zaransky said. "We believe there is a need for this type of housing for single seniors in particular."
City staff members said the plan also will refresh the Regency Inn property, which the city planning team described in a memo as an "underperforming" use along Ogden.
It also could help the city add to its inventory of housing that meets the state definition of affordable, in order to comply with a law that requires 10% of housing in each municipality to count as affordable. The city now has 7.5% affordable housing, with 3,800 homes out of its stock of roughly 50,000 that meet the definition.