Apartment complex not luxurious enough for St. Charles, aldermen say

The developer of a 240-unit apartment complex in St. Charles described the project as “taking a rock and making a diamond out of it.” But the majority of aldermen saw more of a cubic zirconia in rejecting the concept Monday night.

The project is targeted for 13 acres in Pine Ridge Park, which neighbors the Regency Estates subdivision at Woodward Drive and Oak Street on the city's west side. It would include nine buildings of one- and two-bedroom apartments plus a clubhouse with a pool. The developer, 1300 Spring Street LLC, have a contract to purchase the property following a bank foreclosure.

Michael-Dean Chorneyko, a spokesman for the company, told aldermen the property has been vacant for 25 years. But his vision would see the entire complex rented within 18 months of construction. The three- and four-story buildings would be designed to appeal to both young professionals and active senior citizens, Chorneyko said.

But the majority of aldermen lacked faith in the vision. Several aldermen didn't like the idea of altering the city's comprehensive plan barely one year after its completion. That plan calls for commercial development of the site. With the economy showing signs of improvement, aldermen said they are willing to wait for a commercial developer. But other aldermen didn't like the design.

Aldermen William Turner said the project is billed as “high-end apartments,” but he noted the lack of elevators and indoor parking or garage space in the plans. Chorneyko said those would be added in future iterations of the drawings, but Turner said the plans didn't show anything that indicated an upgrade from apartments already available in the city.

“This is almost a step back,” Turner said. “What you've presented here is actually very sterile. I don't see it fitting out here at all. I don't consider this luxury.”

Neighbors in the Regency Estates subdivision turned out in force to speak against the project. Brian Berkelhammer, who sits on the board for the subdivision, said he and his neighbors bought their homes believing the property next to them would be commercially developed per its existing zoning.

“No one is interested in having an apartment complex, much less this one,” Berkelhammer said. “We would feel we were swindled.”

Aldermen did not take a vote on the project, but they told Chorneyko he has major revisions to undertake on the plan for it to have any chance of winning approval.