The Aurora City Council has approved the proposed expansion of 1449 Senior Estates, an affordable housing development for seniors on Jericho Road.
The first phase of the 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 set to be built.
Bernie Weiler, an attorney for the Aurora Housing Authority, told the Aurora City Council on Tuesday that the first phase of the development has been “enormously successful,” with 3,000 resident applications received for just those first 70 units.
The 1449 Senior Estates project 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 housing development was built on the site of the troubled Jericho Circle housing complex, which was demolished in 2012.
The Aurora Housing Authority board started planning for what would eventually become 1449 Senior Estates as early as 2017, after seeing the growing need for affordable senior housing, according to Joe Grisson III, the Aurora Housing Authority’s board chair.
At the groundbreaking for the development in 2023, Grisson said it was “only the beginning.”
Now, the partnership is set to expand 1449 Senior Estates onto 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 wasn’t within city limits, but the Aurora City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to bring it inside.
The City Council also unanimously approved zoning regulations and initial development plans for the site. Final plans still need to be approved by the city at a later date.
Those recently-approved initial plans for 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 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 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.
Not only is the Northern Lights Development Company working on phase two, but Grisson has said that it is also exploring a phase three to “meet the growing demand for affordable and active senior housing within our community.”
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
