New apartment building proposed for downtown Downers Grove

The Downers Grove village council is set to vote on a proposed 167-unit apartment building at the northwest corner of Maple Avenue and Washington Street.

The project is being spearheaded by the Rosemont branch of Minneapolis-based OPUS Development Co. plus three owners of adjoining properties for the apartment site.

They're all seeking council permission for the land to be rezoned for the as-yet- unnamed seven-story apartment building. Some of its amenities are to include a pool, fitness room and pet spa.

The three current properties are an apartment duplex at 928 Maple Ave., a commercial office building at 932 Maple Ave. and a parking lot at 5240 Washington St. that is owned by the nearby First Baptist Church of Downers Grove at 929 Maple Ave.

Developers, owners and residents expressed their concerns about the proposed apartments at the July 6 council meeting.

"I don't know if we would ever be in this place again where all three of us lined up and were willing to do this," said duplex owner Theresa Schulz of Downers Grove. "But we are at this time."

First Baptist Church Senior Pastor Don Zimmerman also spoke in favor of the apartment building. Rather than losing its main parking lot, the church is to have a 71-space indoor parking garage within the apartment building for the exclusive use of staff and parishioners.

"The idea of having our parking lot under cover - no more snow or issues like that - was an attractive thing to us," Zimmerman said.

The apartment building is to also feature 233 enclosed off-street parking spaces on the first two floors for residents. Five on-street parking spaces along Maple Avenue will feature timed loading restrictions.

The majority of objections to the project came from residents in neighboring properties. They expressed misgivings about increased traffic, pedestrian safety, trash removal and the unit density in the building.

Downers Grove commissioners Rich Kulovany, Leslie Sadowski-Fugitt and Nicole Walus each indicated they would be in support of the apartment. The project previously received a 4-3 recommendation from the plan commission at its June 14 meeting after many architectural revisions were made as a result of residents' concerns.

Sadowski-Fugitt offered compliments to OPUS Development for making those revisions. They included the creation of an outdoor dog run for residents with pets and more prominent crosswalk markings.

Walus cited multiple ways the apartment building would comply with the village's comprehensive plan, including being a designated "catalyst site" for greater-density redevelopment near mass transit.

The final village council vote is set take place at the meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 13.