In a 6-1 vote, Virginia-based Artis Senior Living won approval Jan. 9 from Wilmette’s village board to build a 64-unit senior care facility on the site of a small and aging Ridge Road shopping center.
Only hours before the board voted, Artis – told last month to make the project better for the village – added two financial sweeteners to its package.
The company will make $10,000 annual payments to Housing Our Own, the Wilmette non-profit that provides housing subsidies for village seniors and disabled residents, Artis Vice President Jay Hicks said. Artis will pay Wilmette another $10,000 each year, to compensate for sales taxes it might lose when the Wil-Ridge Plaza, 333-357 Ridge, is demolished; he said that will also help compensate for some fire department ambulance service to the building.
Artis plans to provide assisted living for patients with Alzheimers and other dementias in Wilmette, and had requested approval for a planned unit development. Such a designation gives developers more project flexibility, but winning it depends in part on proving the project will benefit the public.
John Adler, Wilmette’s community development director, said Jan. 11 it was the first case he could recall in which a petitioner had offered such a large financial package in return for zoning approval.
Both annual $10,000 payments will begin a year after the facility opens, to give Artis time to generate revenue, Hicks said. Wilmette and Artis will also negotiate a formula that will mandate payment increases based on the consumer price index after a set number of years has passed, Adler said.
“We’ve never done anything like this before,” Hicks said of the sales tax compensation package. “But the more we get to know Wilmette, the more we like it, and the more we want to be part of your community.”
Artis also agreed to two other deals in order to win approval. It will give Wilmette residents or relatives preference on the facility’s wait list, and it committed Artis to winning certification under the “Green Globes” environmental standards for building design. Green Globe environmental designations are similar to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) environmental design standards.
Artis architect Richard Whitney outlined other changes the company made to its zoning request since appearing before the board in December: cutting the three-story building’s height by four feet, to 44 feet, adding more landscaping to the Ridge Road side of the property, and a 6-foot-tall fence between the property and its neighbor to the south.
Artis originally proposed a one-time $20,000 payment to Housing Our Own, but in November increased that to $50,000.
The plan commission voted in November to recommend the case be approved, but Village President Bob Bielinski in December said he was “just not sure” the project provided enough public benefit.
Only Trustee Joel Kurzman voted last week against approval. He said Artis’ most recent offers made it hard for him to oppose the project, but he said he worried about the loss of retail space.
Plaza co-owner Dean Pappas told the board last month that the center couldn’t find or keep new retail tenants.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy
