Hoffman Estates panel so far supports Plum Farms apartment proposal
Hoffman Estates officials expressed informal support Monday for a six-building apartment complex with some retail space to kick off construction of the long-delayed Plum Farms development at the northwest corner of Higgins Road and Route 59.
But they also urged developers to keep aware of the floodplain that overlaps the sprawling property during installation of underground utilities as well as surface construction.
CRG Residential of Carmel, Indiana, sought the courtesy review from the village board's planning, building and zoning committee for 310 apartments spread among the six buildings specifically on the tax-increment finance district at the northwest corner of Higgins and Old Sutton roads.
Three of the buildings would be three stories, while the other three would be four stories. The ground floors of some of the buildings would also provide commercial space totaling about 14,000 square feet, including at the corner itself.
Representatives of CRG Residential suggested that commercial space might find such uses as an eatery or coffee shop as well as a medical or dental office.
"It looks beautiful from your examples," Hoffman Estates Trustee Karen Mills said of the preliminary plans.
CRG would not only buy the land to build the apartments but also continue to own them and oversee their management.
The current owners of the 185 acres that make up the Plum Farms development also have plans for a self-storage facility along the railroad tracks at the western edge of the property.
Although that isn't part of CRG's proposal, its utility installation would enable the apartment complex as well.
As explained in earlier years, before plans were delayed by lawsuits now settled or dismissed, Plum Farms would include businesses, apartments and single-family homes.
But Hoffman Estates' annexation agreement with the property owner limits the number of dwelling units of any type to 1,250. CRG's proposal for 310 apartments, if successful, would be deducted from that number.
The TIF district approved on 40 acres of the property is intended as a funding mechanism only for the installation of utilities to make the land buildable, rather than a way to reimburse property taxes for the construction of residences increasing the number of people local governments must serve.
CRG Residential must submit more formal plans for the village to consider before its proposal can be approved.