Despite starts and stops, downtown Arlington Heights apartment project could soon break ground

Developers of a planned six-story, 135-unit apartment building with a ground-floor restaurant in downtown Arlington Heights are facing a year-end deadline to get shovels in the ground — three years after receiving zoning approvals.

But they expressed confidence they will hit that village-imposed cutoff by beginning teardown of two long-vacant office buildings in August.

The stalled transit-oriented development, to be called Mylo Arlington Heights, has been in the works for years at 116-120 W. Eastman St.

“This project has had a lot of start and stops,” said Richard Wolper, principal of Utah-based Mark 25, who was brought on by Barrington-based Compasspoint Development nearly a year ago as codeveloper.

“When I joined the project, interest rates were still a bit stagnant,” Wolper said. “We waited four to five months and we proceeded roughly 60 days ago towards construction and towards permitting and plans and all that is needed to get this ball rolling.”

The village board issued zoning entitlements in December 2023, and when those were due to expire this past December, trustees agreed to a 12-month extension.

In asking for the extension, the developers at the time complained of rising interest rates, difficulty in raising equity capital and higher construction costs.

Wolper said he’s now getting bids for demolition of the two, three-story office buildings and reached out to firms to do a traffic safety plan “so that we keep everything clean, there’s minimal dust, and we have safety every day all day.”

“I don’t think anybody wants those vacant buildings there much longer,” Wolper told the village board in a status update last week.

But some trustees are frustrated the project hasn’t begun.

Trustee Tom Schwingbeck questioned why other development proposals have come before the board, received approvals, been built and are already being rented out — a likely nod to the eight-story, 301-unit Arbor House apartments that grand opened last month at 25 E. Algonquin Road.

Adding to the frustration, Schwingbeck said, is that delays hinder retail occupancy and result in a diminished tax base.

“I really thought you were going to be hitting the ground running,” Schwingbeck told Wolper. “I’m not getting this warm, fuzzy feeling that this thing’s going to be done on time. We’ve been talking about this now for a couple of years.”

Wolper said he understood, and promised to supply a more detailed construction schedule to village officials in the coming weeks.