Shopping
Transit-oriented housing proposed near Deerbrook Shopping Center in Deerfield: ‘A clever way … to tuck housing into this extremely challenging footprint’
In village efforts to diversify the local housing supply, new multi-family apartments proposed in Deerfield are designed to be close to public transportation.
Preliminary plans for the residential complex in the rear corner of the Deerbrook Shopping Center received a stamp of approval Monday from the Deerfield Board of Trustees.
The design plans are to build a high-density, transit-oriented development, since the vacant 10.7-acre property abuts the Metra tracks, a train station and Interstate 94. Final approval is still needed from the village’s Plan Commission before the board can consider an ordinance for the project.
According to a village staff memo, the development would increase the housing variety in Deerfield, aligning with village goals outlined in its comprehensive plan.
According to the memo, Developers Gateway Fairview and Continental Properties have proposed a 254-unit development across eight, three-level structures, with four detached parking garages and surface parking. The units would be a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
“I applaud you for a clever way of trying to tuck housing into this extremely challenging footprint. I’m thrilled to see it,” Trustee Mary Oppenheim said at Monday’s meeting. “It’s such a unique space, with it being bound by the highway and the railroad, and then the shopping.
“The potential is there but it took some creative thinking,” she said.
The development would offer 25 units at an affordable rate, following the village’s inclusionary housing requirements, the memo said.
An affordable unit is defined in the ordinance as a housing unit available to households with incomes that do not exceed a percentage of the Chicago metro region’s area median income (AMI), as established and defined in the annual schedule published by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development, and adjusted for household size. The ordinance determines the affordability as a percentage of the AMI.
Plans for the transit-oriented development also include adding pedestrian access from the residential property to the Lake Cook Metra station. To do this, Deerfield plans to enter an annexation agreement with Metra to incorporate a portion of the railroad into the village.
Under the agreement, maintenance of the pedestrian path would be the village’s responsibility, but staff said the village also plans to enter into a second agreement with Continental for the maintenance of the pathway.
An ordinance and public hearing on the matter of annexation will go before the Board of Trustees in early June, village staff said during Monday’s meeting.
In 2019, Reva Development Partners was granted approval by the village for a five-story residential apartment building on the 10.7-acre property, according to the village memo. The site was never developed, and four years later in April 2023, the developers abandoned the plans, according to a report in Crain’s Chicago Business.
If Continental Properties receives final approval from the Plan Commission and the Board of Trustees, the real estate developer plans to close on the property sale in October and start construction shortly thereafter, Jennifer Patton, the company’s development director, said at Monday’s meeting.
The Wisconsin-based real estate company manages eight other properties in Illinois, in Crystal Lake, South Elgin, St. Charles, Aurora, Romeoville and Bolingbrook, according to Patton.
With the Deerfield development’s proximity to public transportation, Patton said she anticipates a higher percentage of young professionals, ages 20- to 34, wishing to live in the community.
Conceptual plans for the complex also include amenities such as a community clubhouse, pool, pickleball court, pet parks, fitness center and more.
Patton said the organization is working to update the design plans to comply with a new Illinois law that mandates developers of new multi-unit residential buildings must provide at least one electric vehicle (EV) capable parking space for each unit.
“We will be in compliance, it’s just a matter of what that looks like,” Patton said.
The Board of Trustees approved the Plan Commission’s recommendation on the proposal and directed staff to prepare an ordinance for the June meeting.
Mayor Daniel Shapiro directed the developers to have plans for EV-capable parking spaces and make some signage improvements ahead of the next consideration.
Final design plans for the project will go before the village Plan Commission for a final review before the Board of Trustee meeting next month.
chilles@chicagotribune.com
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