Residential developer wants to build townhouses in downtown Mundelein
A real estate developer wants to build townhouses on land in downtown Mundelein now occupied by a recycling business.
K. Hovnanian Homes, which has created other residential projects in town, now is eyeing the roughly 1.8 acres at 101 E. Maple Ave. where the Alan Josephsen Co. operates
The land is on the south side of Route 176. It's bordered on the west by Seymour Avenue and on the east by the Canadian National Railway tracks.
The village board agreed last month to buy the site from the eponymous owner of the recycling company for more than $1.3 million. The goal was to get rid of the recycling center and attract a developer that would build something more suitable for the downtown area.
A collection of two-story townhouses “is just what the doctor ordered,” Mayor Steve Lentz said.
“This attractive development will ... bring more pedestrian traffic to downtown,” Lentz said.
K. Hovnanian Homes has been in talks with Mundelein to build homes on village-owned land just to the east, at 538 N. Morris Ave. That site and the Maple Avenue property are separated by the railroad tracks.
In addition to building the homes, Hovnanian would be asked to make improvements to nearby Seymour Avenue, redesign and reconstruct a section of nearby Park Street and build new sidewalks in the area, according to village documents. It also would be asked to install decorate streetlights, create on-street parking spaces and make other infrastructure improvements.
The Alan Josephsen Co. has operated on Maple Avenue since 1978, recycling paper, cardboard and other materials. It's one of the few industrial businesses in the downtown area.
As part of the agreement, the business can stay put until January 2020 while it establishes a new home, likely outside Mundelein's village limits.
The land at 538 N. Morris once was occupied by the Bradco Supply Corp.
The village bought that land in 2016 to control redevelopment. An industrial building there was demolished last year.
Other K. Hovnanian Homes developments in Mundelein include the Tall Grass Ridge neighborhood off Midlothian Road, Orchard Meadows off Midlothian Road and Maple Hill off Route 60/83.
“K. Hovnanian has been a great new-housing builder for Mundelein, and we're very pleased for them to be involved with this project as well,” Lentz said.