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Arlington Heights trustees have concerns with downtown apartment proposal

Arlington Heights trustees on Monday said a proposed 5-story apartment building on a portion of long-vacant land near the downtown should have more parking.

CA Ventures is proposing an 86-unit, 41,987-square-foot building on Sigwalt Street between Highland and Chestnut avenues on the south side of the empty block that is west of the Vail Avenue parking garage.

Called Sigwalt Street Apartments, the building would include 94 parking spaces in an underground garage and on the first and second floors.

Under village code, 31 more spaces would be required in the neighboring garage, for which the village would charge the developer a one-time fee.

During the village board's early review of the project Monday night, some trustees raised concerns about having off-site parking in the Vail garage because it would take away parking from downtown businesses.

“As downtown continues to fill up, we should really be evaluating our parking during the summer and make sure we have enough of what we need,” Trustee John Scaletta said. “We're not adding on to that garage.”

Trustees Bert Rosenberg and Jim Tinaglia suggested the apartment building go a story taller to make room for more cars inside.

The village's comprehensive plan recommends a building of 4 to 6 stories for that site.

But a sixth floor might make the project cost-prohibitive, said Matt Katsaros, vice president of acquisitions for CA Ventures.

However, project architect Mark Hopkins said he would develop contingency plans on self-contained parking.

The developer wants to rezone the property from single-family residential to multifamily residential, which is also consistent with the comprehensive plan.

A number of variations would be needed, including those for building setbacks and density. Current zoning allows only 55 units to be constructed — 31 fewer than proposed.

The building would include a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, with monthly rents ranging from about $1,800 to $3,000.

CA Ventures has committed to giving $325,000 to the village's affordable housing trust fund, in lieu of providing units at discounted prices.

The proposed development site, which is about one-third of the entire empty block, once contained single-family homes and a parking lot for AT&T.

A previous developer proposed condominiums for the site, but those plans never came to fruition.

The 3-acre northern portion of the empty block was once home of Paddock Publications, publisher of the Daily Herald. Katsaros said the current owner, Norwood Builders, is interested in potentially working with CA Ventures on redevelopment of the entire block, but they haven't discussed specifics.

CA Ventures has yet to make a formal submission of plans to the village, as only conceptual plans were reviewed by the board Monday.

A proposed five-story apartment building on Sigwalt Street would be situated on the south side of a vacant block near downtown Arlington Heights. Courtesy of Village of Arlington Heights
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