Wheaton, developer near deal on luxury apartments

Wheaton officials are expected to ink a deal to reimburse a Chicago-based developer for some construction costs for a luxury downtown apartment complex and reduce the amount the company pays in park district impact fees.

The city council Monday unanimously directed staff members to draft an agreement with Morningside Group to supplement the proposed project with $500,000 in upfront tax increment financing district funds for the burial of overhead electrical lines at the site on the corner of Front and Cross streets.

City Manager Don Rose said the city also would provide an additional $850,000 in TIF assistance once the developer obtains an occupancy permit for the 306-unit, six-story apartment complex near the Wheaton Public Library. That money would be used for work including landscaping, sidewalks and street improvements.

Tax increment financing districts collect increased property tax revenues from redevelopment. The funds are earmarked for improvements within the district instead of going to taxing bodies such as schools and parks.

“The magnitude of dollars, the dollars at risk here, are dramatically smaller than what we’ve been confronted with in the past,” Councilman Phil Suess said. “Truly, I think these expenditures can be accommodated through the existing TIF dollars or the anticipated growth in those TIF dollars.”

The review of the developer’s request comes less than a month after Wheaton hired Design Workshop, Inc., a Denver-based consulting firm, to develop a comprehensive plan targeting the downtown’s streetscape, parking, sidewalks and other public spaces.

“We’re already committed ourselves to a major redesign of downtown Wheaton, and from that standpoint, we are going to be doing a lot of these types of improvements,” Councilwoman Jeanne Ives said.

Meanwhile, Morningside and Wheaton Park District have been negotiating how much the developer will pay in park impact fees. Under a formula required by city code, Morningside would pay $343,177 in lieu of a land donation for park purposes.

In March, the park district’s board of commissioners approved a $60,000 waiver in response to Morningside’s request for a full waiver of the fees.

An attorney for the developer Monday argued Morningside is providing more than an acre of open space at the site and investing $700,000 in amenities there, including a private pool in a courtyard.

“We know that because you happen to be dealing with a redevelopment agreement, you don’t necessarily have to be fair,” Scott Day, a Naperville-based attorney, told the council. “You can demand something which is unfair, but as it relates to this project, it would be the first time that the city had taken a position that was fundamentally unfair in terms of the numbers.”

Mike Benard, the park district’s executive director, called the $60,000 waiver “fair and equitable.”

Ives suggested the impact fees should total $150,000. Suess agreed, arguing the residents of the complex would pay park district program fees — revenue that could offset costs of providing services to them.

“I just don’t accept the fact that this development is going to have an impact, a cost impact, on the facilities and utilization of the park district facilities in this community,” Suess said.

The council then unanimously directed staff to draft an agreement imposing $150,000 in total impact fees.

“The community is making an investment here for this project to move forward,” Suess said.