How new apartment development fills the housing gap in Fox Lake
A long-sought housing option in Fox Lake is emerging at a former quarry site, with the first tenants of a 154-unit market-rate apartment development starting to move in.
Construction of The Residences at the Quarry began last fall west of Route 12 and north of Big Hollow Road. It is the first new multifamily housing project in the village in 15 years.
Officials say the $40 million development is a win for the village, which has been trying for years to attract housing for “missing middle” residents such as families just starting out or homeowners looking to downsize.
While there is expensive lakefront housing in the village, about 72% of the housing stock in town is considered affordable, according to Mayor Donny Schmit.
“We don’t need any more affordable housing,” he said. “What we need to do is fill that gap in the middle.”
The first of 11 buildings was ready for occupancy on Oct. 1, and six tenants have moved in, according to Kevin Micheli, president and COO of Charles Hall Construction LLC. Another building will be ready Nov. 1, with one to two per month to follow. Completion is anticipated in spring.
“We’ve been getting a lot of traction. We’ve had a lot of showings,” Micheli said.
The development includes one- to three-bedroom units in a townhouse-style design. About 57% of the homes come with attached garages, and other amenities include a clubhouse, fitness center, dog park and outdoor recreation space.
Rents posted on the project website range from $1,995 to $2,295 per month.
Micheli’s company also built Morris Station, a 16-building, 139-townhouse development on a former industrial site in Mundelein. The company is also pursuing a project in Wauconda.
The quarry property was marketed for commercial uses for many years. But it generated scant interest because of poor visibility from Route 12 and limited access.
Its proximity to retailers, including Jewel-Osco immediately south, indicated a residential development would be the best use for the land, a market analysis showed.
The village offered tax increment financing district funding as an incentive to help make it happen.
“That was a blighted property — it used to be a gravel pit,” Schmit said. “Without the TIF this project wouldn’t have been possible.”
In a TIF, property values in a designated area are frozen for up to 23 years for local governments like school and park districts. Tax revenues generated above that amount by new development are set aside to be used for a variety of development-related expenses.
In this case, the eligible costs to the developer were capped at about $9 million. Lake County Partners, the county’s economic development arm, also secured an enterprise zone designation that offset exempted sales taxes on construction materials.
Without the incentives, the project wouldn’t have been built, Micheli said.
“It’s a huge benefit.”
Lake County Partners said the project expands the housing supply that increasingly is a deciding factor for companies considering expansion or relocation.
Schmit said he insisted on a condition of the deal that allows TIF proceeds to pay the difference — about $10,000 — between what the state reimburses and the actual cost of educating a student in Big Hollow Elementary School District 38 and Grant Community High School District 124.
“I made sure that the schools would be made whole,” he said.
mzawislak@dailyherald.com