Plan for new apartment building near Wheeling Town Center moves forward
Six months after being publicly unveiled, plans for a new apartment building near the Wheeling Town Center commercial and residential complex easily cleared a bureaucratic hurdle Wednesday.
Wheeling's plan commission unanimously agreed to recommend the village board preliminarily approve construction designs for a four-story, L-shaped building at 231 Wheeling Road.
The board could take that action when it next meets July 19. A final review by the plan commission and board would be needed before construction begins.
The nearly 4-acre site is in an mostly industrial area south of Dundee Road and less than a one-mile drive from Town Center. It's also near Wheeling's Metra station.
The land is vacant now but formerly was home to an asphalt company. Some environmental contamination from that former business will be remediated, said Sig Strautmanis, a representative of General Capital Group, the Wisconsin-based developer.
"(It's) nothing that we can't deal with," he said.
The complex is set to be called the Union Apartments. The building's original working name was Wheeling Workforce Apartments - but that didn't sit well with trustees, and the developers promised to come up with a better name.
Strautmanis revealed the new moniker during his presentation Wednesday. It hearkens back to a venue called the Union Hotel that opened in Wheeling the mid-19th century and later expanded to include a social hall, according to documents. Both burned down in 1925.
Fifty-three units are proposed. They'd range from 700 square feet to 1,200 square feet and have one to three bedrooms each.
The apartments would be considered affordable housing, Strautmanis said, and tenants would need to qualify based on income.
As part of its plan, General Capital is requesting exemptions from village codes regarding building height, parking spot length and other elements. Developers have made assorted changes based on village staff requests and will continue doing so, Strautmanis said.
Union Apartments would be the latest apartment complex built near Town Center. Others include the One Wheeling Town Center Apartments and the Uptown 500 complex.