Early approval for final phase of downtown Naperville Promenade
An original plan for the final phase of the Main Street Promenade in downtown Naperville took up nearly all of the 0.83-acre site and included 72 apartments in a five-story building.
A new plan that gained unanimous approval this week from the planning and zoning commission downsized the design to take up roughly one-third of the parcel along Main Street between Benton and Van Buren avenues with 47 apartments.
The proposed building remains five stories tall and still has space for retail on the first floor. But its height of 59 feet, 11 inches is an inch under the downtown zoning district's 60-foot maximum.
The city council now can consider the plan for final approval.
Attorney Vince Rosanova, representing property owner and developer RPAI, said the new plan addresses the top concerns brought up last June when the original design was considered, especially proximity to a nearby condo building. He said the proposal will complete a shopping and office destination he described as "a source of pride and a focal point in our downtown."
The old plan included a setback on the western property line of 10 feet, meaning the building would have been 20 feet from the Benton Terrace condos. Neighbors said that was too close, so RPAI moved it back. The new plan includes a 130-foot setback from the western property line, Rosanova said.
The larger distance is more consistent with what was proposed in 2008, when original Main Street Promenade owners Dwight and Ruth Yackley of BBM Inc. proposed an 85-foot separation. Dwight Yackley was among those who raised concerns about the first iteration of the plan last summer. But on Wednesday, Yackley thanked RPAI for listening and said he supports the new design.
"This plan is truly one plan for the whole block and not just a plan for a portion of the block," Yackley said.
Other changes increased guest parking spaces for apartment residents and improved the exterior architecture of the proposed building to match the first two phases of the Main Street Promenade, built in 2008 and 2014.
"This is a classic example of the developer going back and working with the residents," planning and zoning commission member Krishna Bansal said.
The cooperation, he said, resulted in an "optimum plan."