A Clarendon Hills resident who lives next to the land on which a mixed-use development is slated to be built wasn’t feeling any better about it last week than he did Sept. 15 when the Village Board voted to give an OK to the project.
Plans for the four-story structure by developer Parkside Place CH, LLC, include ground-level retail space and 17 condominiums at 104 Walker and 301 Park Avenues. The village in 2024 purchased the half-acre site at 104 Walker Ave. for $1.4 million. That space, along with the 2000 purchase of the adjacent parcel at 301 S. Park Avenue for $237,000, combine to make up the development property.
The original development request from Parkside Place CH, LLC also included boutique hotel rooms, but that was not granted by the village. The Village Board vote came following recommendation from the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals and Plan Commission to approve the development. The project needed the Village Board to approve a conditional use for a Planned Unit Development.
Resident Chris Vokaty, who lives next to the development property, told the Village Board at its Sept. 15 meeting the mixed-use project was an “oversized development” that “comes at a huge price to people who have invested in neighboring homes.”
Village President Eric Tech said a mixed-use development was in the village’s 2014 Master Plan and has been in the works for 34 years on the property in question.
“It’s not something this board dreamed up,” he said. “This project has been re-endorsed by many boards over the years.”
Vokaty said while that may be the case, he and many other residents knew nothing about it.
“It went under the radar,” he said. “No one seemed to know about it until they were ready to go ahead with it. Many people found out about it and expressed opposition, and there was never really any debate with the village president or Village Board. I never felt they were listening.”
Vokaty said he wouldn’t be opposed to all types of development on the property.
“This is a four-story building right next to residential,” he said, “Do something reasonable. This is a nightmare for my family.”
Tech said he believes the condominiums in the project are a good fit for the village.
“Clarendon Hills should have a multi-generational community, and there are people who want to downsize and still say here,” he said. “There’s a huge demand for those kind of housing units in our town.”
Vokaty said he viewed the condominium development as “a glorified retirement community for people who have tons of money.”
Previously, the property had one single-family residence and garage buildings that were abandoned and vacant for a number of years. The vacant house and garage were surrounded by scrub trees on a poorly maintained lot.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
