An Orland Park plan to offer tax breaks and other incentives to the developer of a proposed senior housing project came under fire last week as 300 people packed the community’s Civic Center to hear more about the planned development.
The meeting, which was punctuated by hissing and catcalls, was additionally complicated when another developer complained that his proposal–which did not ask for incentives–had been rejected by village officials.
Most of the residents who spoke said they favored affordable housing for the elderly but worried that subsidized housing for low-income residents also was being planned. Many also wanted answers to why the village canceled plans with one developer in favor of another. Many questioned why the village was offering tax breaks and financial support.
The meeting was called after several residents last month criticized the village’s decision to approve a preliminary agreement with a developer to build a 96-unit senior apartment complex. According to the deal, the village would offer a tax break and donate 4.9 acres of land on the southeast corner of 149th Street and Ravinia Avenue, valued at more than $600,000, to Alden Realty Services Inc. of Chicago. In return, the company would build low-rent apartments for qualified seniors, with Orland Park residents and their relatives getting first crack at the units.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Orland resident Joe Mulvey spoke out against the project.
“From a resident’s point of view, it’s not about the need for senior housing, it’s whether the village should give up prime village land for a private company. Subsidizing private companies is a dangerous thing,” Mulvey said.
Another resident, Mary Ann Valley, 60, disagreed.
“Our taxes have paid for the land. Now in a way it’s being given back to us so we could benefit from it,” she said.
Trustee James Dodge agreed with Valley.
“I wouldn’t call it subsidized, as much as I’d say it’s Orland Park taking advantage of a program to benefit the people of Orland Park,” Dodge said.
Developer Philip Moeller, of American Housing Partners, Wheaton, who was in the audience, asked that the village reconsider his proposal to buy the land and build a similar project without benefit of tax breaks.
Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin responded that Moeller’s proposal had been rejected because it envisioned too many units on the parcel of land.
Moeller responded that he would revise his plan and try to put it back on the table.
The Alden agreement was negotiated just months after the village had canceled a deal with a different developer, Reenders Inc., of Chicago. The company also asked for the land donation and other financial assistance, but at that time, the village said it was opposed to the land donation.
Alden proposes to use federal tax credits, government-sponsored bonds, low-interest state loans and private financing to fund the $8.2 million project, said Randi Schlossberg-Schullo, a broker with Alden. She said the company also needs Orland Park’s land donation and tax breaks to control the cost of the project and to prove to state and federal agencies that local government is supporting the project.
The Alden plan would pass on its savings to seniors, said Schlossberg-Schullo. Eighty percent of the project’s apartments would feature less than market rate rent and be set aside for seniors who as individuals earn less than $25,000 annually. Couples could earn $28,000, she said.
