Another tall building for downtown Elmhurst is on the drawing board – and in public hearings before the Zoning and Planning Commission – as developers asked for variances from city zoning to build a five-story condominium building on Addison Avenue directly west of City Hall.
Wilder Crossing – four residential floors over ground floor commercial space and a mezzanine level — is proposed for 195-197 N. Addison Avenue, across from the Market Square townhomes between Second and Third Streets. The southern portion of the site is vacant and the northern portion has an old house on it.
Approval is far from certain, as a recent public hearing was continued to Sept. 25. Some residents are expected to comment then after not getting a chance during the initial three-hour hearing.
If approved, the building would join the six-story Addison parking garage a block south, now under construction, in exceeding the 45-foot building height allowed in the area. The 207-apartment Morningside Hahn project just to the north is still in the design stage, but is also expected to be six stories.
Taller buildings can be built in the area, but only as a conditional use with substantial setbacks from property lines, a requirement the city and developers have said makes projects economically unfeasible.
“The current zoning (for a 65-foot tall building) says we can use one-third of the site,” attorney Scott Day, representing developer Wilder Crossing LLC, told plan commissioners. “Under existing zoning, you could get eight units.”
The project as presented has 31 units.
Day said the problem is antiquated zoning that conflicts with the city’s own vision for the downtown.
“The (city’s) 2009 comprehensive plan called for high-density downtown and for buildings up to eight stories,” Day said. “The 2006 and 2009 plans call for projects much like Wilder Crossing.”
Architect Jeff Budgell said the project would include two duplexes and two penthouses in a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units over about 2,000 feet of ground floor retail space.
Parking for 48 cars will be provided inside the building, a ratio of 1.55 spaces per dwelling unit. City rules call for 2 spaces per dwelling. Given nearby public transportation, developers believe the lower ratio is consistent with transit-oriented development.
Wilder Crossing has two applications pending before the Zoning Commission. The first, which was continued, seeks a conditional use permit for the taller building, along with variations for parking, density and for relief from setback requirements. As designed, the building would have no side yard setbacks and slim three-foot front and rear setbacks from Addison and from the alley behind the building.
A separate public hearing will be set for the second request — a text amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance and conditional use permit for the tall building. If granted, that would allow the development to proceed as a planned unit development.
It is not clear whether that hearing also will be held on Sept. 25.
Zoning Commission decisions in both cases will go to the city council’s Development, Planning and Zoning Committee for additional review before being sent on to the full city council for final resolution.
Wilder Crossing managing partner Timothy Grant said after the hearing that he hopes the project can get through all the steps with the city by spring of next year.
“We’d love to be able to get going (with construction) as soon as the ground thaws,” Grant said.
Plans call for completing the structural shell in three or four months, and then finishing residential units as they are sold. He was optimistic about both residential sales and finding tenants for the retail spaces.
“We’re getting so much positive feedback,” Grant said.
