The Aurora City Council this week approved a development to feature 250 townhomes on the far southeast side of the city.
Aldermen approved Chelsea Manor, being developed by MI Homes of Chicago LLC, along South Commons Drive, just north of Montgomery Road and just west of Route 59.
The development backs up to the Calvary Church property, and is next to the Gramercy Square subdivision, which MI Homes also developed. The land was once owned by the Indian Prairie School District.
MI Homes officials have said the company was ready to develop Chelsea Manor because of the success of Gramercy Square, which is already sold out after two years of development.
Chelsea Manor will have two- and three-story townhomes, similar to Gramercy Square.
One of the features of the development from the city’s perspective is that connecting Commons Drive from Montgomery Road to 75th Street. Commons Drive would eventually be connected throughout the far East Side, between Montgomery Road and the Route 59 train station, becoming a traffic reliever for Route 59.
The development would have two access points, both onto Commons Drive. One would be in the middle of the subdivision, and the other to the north.
The development also has an access point to the Calvary Church property that will be gated, with the gate closed most of the time. The access would be opened by church officials when needed as an additional place for traffic to enter and exit the church parking lot, through the subdivision.
While the access would be used seven days a week, the most traffic using that back exit and entrance now is by far between two services at the church on Sunday, MI Homes officials said.
Officials also guaranteed that on the deeds of all purchasers there will be notice of the church traffic in the development. That came at the insistence of Ald. Patty Smith, 8th Ward, whose ward includes Chelsea Manor. She said she wanted to make sure the information about that traffic flow is included in contracts for purchasing the townhouses.
There is no park in the Chelsea Manor development because the Fox Valley Park District already has one in Gramercy Square, and did not want another one in the new development, Russ Whitaker, an attorney representing MI Homes, said. But there will be about a 2 1/2-acre open space in the middle of Chelsea Manor.
