Mixed reviews for 600-unit apartment plan on former Menards site in Hoffman Estates
Hoffman Estates trustees had a mixed response Monday to a plan for 600 luxury apartments on a former Menards site.
Though the general design and architecture of The Prime Company's plan for the vacant site in Barrington Square Town Center on Higgins Road received favorable reviews, a few trustees criticized the number of units as well as the parking capacity and height they would require.
"The 600 units just seems like a lot for that area," Trustee Karen Mills said. "I think it has potential, however it's too much in my mind."
The response showed that while board members have been prepared for an influx of high-end multifamily housing proposals, it doesn't mean they'd be enthusiastic about each one.
Trustee Michael Gaeta stood apart from his colleagues in viewing the entire plan favorably and accepting the developer's suggestion that more residents will help the area's businesses thrive.
"I like the whole concept of what they're presenting and where they're presenting it," he said. "The area needs something like it."
The proposed apartment building would reach a maximum height of 83 feet and wrap around a multilevel parking deck with 780 spaces.
Trustee Gary Pilafas questioned the project's ability to accommodate that many vehicles and the traffic they would create.
"The math's not working for me," he said.
"I'm fully confident that (the correct) parking amount is in that garage," Prime Company owner Chris Elsey responded.
Trustees also criticized how much of Barrington Square's parking lot the seven-acre project would occupy. Current tenants of the center use the lot not only for parking but occasional special events, they said.
But the village's planning staff said that no other tenants have a right to the property that the apartment proposal would use. Though the area has grown accustomed to the vacant space since the 2009 demolition of Menards, that store previously generated much more traffic in the area.
That's why Elsey suggested the project would be a boon rather than a bane to businesses in the area.
"Everything's there but the people, and we can provide the people," he said.
The mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments would be expected to rent for between $1,700 and $2,500 per month.
The timing of The Prime Company's potential return with a more formal proposal was left uncertain.
Just last week trustees approved 164 high-end townhouses at Bell Works Chicagoland. A proposal for 300 apartments on the site is expected to follow.
And construction has begun on the 296-unit Seasons at Hoffman Estates apartment complex approved last fall at Higgins Road and Moon Lake Boulevard.
Two weeks ago, village staff prepared trustees for an expected wave of high-end multifamily housing proposals. The current plans and inquiries alone account for about 2,700 units.
A study by Schaumburg-based real estate consultant Tracy Cross & Associates concluded that the local market could sustain at least several of the pending proposals.