Naperville Water Street developer now aiming for November start
The developer of the Water Street District in downtown Naperville says his company wants to break ground in November on the new hospitality destination south of the DuPage River.
But changes to proposed plans for the 2.4-acre area along Water Street between Main and Webster streets still haven't won official clearance.
Representatives of The Marquette Companies must return to the city council to receive final approval of seven changes to the proposed development as well as a temporary parking lot request and a request to locate two electric transformers on public right of way instead of completely on private property.
And Naperville City Manager Doug Krieger said financial details of who owes what — the city or the developer — still need to be worked out.
The council granted preliminary approval for the project Tuesday as the latest step in efforts to redevelop the underused area immediately east of the Naperville municipal center, efforts that began in 2007 with plans for condos.
Amended plans approved in April 2013 called for a Hotel Indigo, a riverfront plaza and Riverwalk connection, a 520-space parking deck, restaurants, shops and offices.
Proposed changes that moved toward approval Tuesday would remove a spa from the hotel plans and add a 8,700-square-foot banquet facility that would host nearly 200 events a year — primarily weddings for up to 250 people.
Other changes would enlarge a building along the DuPage River, slightly shrink a riverfront plaza, add taller screening walls to hide rooftop mechanical equipment, decrease the width of a second-story pedestrian bridge, add a new Riverwalk connection behind the Naperville Township building and allow a service business to be located on the first floor in the downtown retail district.
“All of those (changes), in my mind, don't outweigh the desirability of this amenity,” council member Robert Fieseler said. “I'm in favor of what you propose.”
Discussion Tuesday night focused — as it often has with the Water Street District — on building density.
“The basic concern comes down to whether this is too much development for the amount of land,” council member Joseph McElroy said. “We've struggled for years on how to measure density and bulk. It's been pretty frustrating.”
The latest version of plans asks for an increase in total square footage to 28,200 square feet instead of 22,353. Some residents who spoke Tuesday opposed the taller screening walls that will be added to hide rooftop mechanical units and urged the council to shrink the approved construction before approving plans.
“It's still way too much in too small of a location,” said Bob Fischer, president of the Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation. “The height that was shaved off 18 months ago is creeping back because the developer needs more return on investment.”
Jeff Prosapio, director of property management for Naperville-based Marquette Companies, said the screening walls will be set back from the edges of buildings so they will not cast additional shadows.
Although the screening will increase in height between two and five feet, he said the rooflines and parapet heights of the buildings will not increase. The taller screening walls are necessary because proposed tenants need bigger heating, ventilation and air conditioning units than originally projected.
“We are getting more demand from restaurant operators than we are from retailers, and that kind of fits because it's a hospitality district with the Hotel Indigo,” Prosapio said.
A request to increase a building's width, and as a result, decrease the size of a plaza along the Riverwalk also drew some opposition
“I'm very disappointed you're proposing to shrink the plaza,” McElroy said. “That's a very important amenity.”
Prosapio said his company also is asking to add another Riverwalk element that wasn't originally included — an upper-level walkway behind the Naperville Township building at Webster and Water streets.
“It is still an open space,” Prosapio said about the plaza. “It is still going to have full use and access for the public to connect from Water Street to the Riverwalk through the staircase and the fountain, so we still think that's an amenity for the public.”
Proposed Water Street changes
Marquette Companies, developer of the proposed Water Street District in downtown Naperville, is requesting several changes to the plans approved in April 2013 for the 2.4-acre area on both sides of Water Street between Main and Webster streets. The changes received a preliminary OK Tuesday from the city council and will be considered for final approval at a later meeting.
1. Increase the size of a riverfront building to 22,836 square feet from 22,819 square feet and decrease the size of a riverfront plaza
2. Add an 8,700-square-foot banquet hall that can seat 250 people and two conference rooms instead of a two-story restaurant
3. Increase the total square footage of restaurant space to 28,200 square feet instead of 22,353 square feet
4. Increase the height of screening walls on top of three buildings by between 2 and 4 feet to hide taller-than-anticipated rooftop mechanical units
5. Decrease the width of a pedestrian bridge that will connect the main hotel on the south side of Water Street with other hotel suites and the banquet space on the north
6. Allow a ground-floor service use for Traveling Tots, a kids events and retail business, although zoning code generally reserves first-floor storefronts for retail
7. Extend the upper-level Riverwalk and a boardwalk across the Naperville Township property on the west side of the development
8. Place a temporary parking lot at 141 Aurora Ave. until June 30, 2016
9. Locate electric transformers on public right of way on Water and Webster streets