The Aurora Housing Authority is looking to expand 1449 Senior Estates, an affordable housing development on Jericho Road.
The first phase of the affordable senior housing development opened last year with 70 units, spread across 25 duplexes and 20 single-family residences. Now, a second phase of the development with an additional 54 units is being proposed.
“In Illinois, senior housing is more necessary now, as our population continues to age,” said Joe Grisson III, the Aurora Housing Authority’s board chair.
The expansion of 1449 Senior Estates would sit on a nearly 14-acre stretch of land just to the west of the currently-built neighborhood, which is located at 1449 Jericho Road. The undeveloped land isn’t yet within city limits, but a proposal set to go before the Aurora City Council on Tuesday would bring it inside.
A public hearing on the annexation is scheduled to take place at the meeting, which will take place at City Hall, 44 E. Downer Place, starting at 6 p.m.
Alongside the annexation proposal, City Council is also set to consider zoning regulations and initial development plans for the site. Even if all four proposals are approved by City Council on Tuesday, final plans would still need to be approved by the city at a later date.
Initial plans for the proposed phase two of 1449 Senior Estates show 12 duplexes and 10 triplexes for a total of 54 housing units. The neighborhood’s two vehicle entrances would be on Jericho Road, according to the proposed plans, but a pathway would connect the proposed new phase to the existing part of the development.
Pickleball courts and a patio for the neighborhood’s use could also be built, proposed plans show.
Of the proposed 54 housing units, 43 are set to be one-bedroom while the rest will be two-bedroom, according to a city staff report. The homes are expected to be built with “durable materials,” in addition to hard wire for internet and cable connections, ceiling fans and attached garages, staff wrote in the report.
The exterior of each home is planned to include premium vinyl siding with brick accents, the report said.
The buildings are also being constructed in an environmentally-conscious way, keeping to U.S. Green Building Council LEED Platinum standards, according to the staff report.
Aurora Senior Planner Alex Minnella told the Aurora City Council’s Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee at a meeting late last month that the developer wanted to stress their commitment to the environmental standards, knowing the city is currently pushing sustainability efforts.
Sustainability was a part of Aurora Mayor John Laesch’s campaign messaging, and that has continued to be a priority for him. He’s big on energy-efficient housing, he recently told The Beacon-News, and he is looking at trying to “influence some existing developers” in that direction.
The 1449 Senior Estates development has been developed by a group that includes the Aurora Housing Authority and the Northern Lights Development Corp. — which is a not-for-profit organization under the control of the housing authority — along with a limited partnership of investors, according to past reporting.
The affordable senior housing development was built on the site of the troubled Jericho Circle housing complex, which was demolished in 2012.
After seeing the growing need for affordable senior housing, the Aurora Housing Authority board started planning for what would eventually become 1449 Senior Estates as early as 2017, according to Grisson.
He said that, when the project was moving along and the waitlist was opened, the Housing Authority received 900 applications in just three days, confirming the community’s “tremendous need.”
At the groundbreaking for the development in 2023, Grisson said it was “only the beginning.”
Not only is the Northern Lights Development Company now working on phase two, but it is also exploring a phase three to “meet the growing demand for affordable and active senior housing within our community,” he said earlier this month.
“Simply put, there has been a housing shortage,” Grisson said. “We are meeting some of those needs for the senior community, by continuing to build quality and affordable housing.”
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
