Hoffman Estates-based WT Group/Olive Street Development are planning to build a 130 unit luxury apartment complex at the former Huntley Square property in Carpentersville, which was demolished in 2021 to make way for this new development.
The Daily Herald reports that Carpentersville officials are hopeful that this luxury apartment complex will be a catalyst for development around the Spring Hill Mall, which like other malls in the suburbs has seen occupancy drop dramatically through the years.
Trustees approved the development agreement for the former Huntley Square and plans are in the works to break ground by this fall on the building at the southwest corner of Route 31 and Huntley Road. The project's name, Iron Flats, is named after the Village's history with the Illinois Iron & Bolt Co.
The intersection, just north of Spring Hill Mall, serves as a key entry point to Carpentersville and is one of the Village's busiest intersections.
The project will feature the following:
- Studio apartments
- One bedroom apartments
- Two bedroom apartments
- Outdoor dog park
- Indoor dog wash
- Fitness center
- Rooftop deck
- Electric car charging stations
- Business center
Construction will start this fall with an expected completion date in late summer of 2023.
The Village tried unsuccessfully for many years to buy the rundown property. In 2020, Otto Engineering President, Tom Roser, purchased the site.
After the purchase, Roser signed an agreement with the Village that would have required the Village to purchase the land for the same price Roser bought it if he couldn't find a developer by the end of 2021.
The agreement was then extended until the end of March to allow WT Group/Olive Street Development to finalize its purchase of the property.
The developer will make use of tax increment financing to build the project. The Village created the TIF district, which expires in 2038, for the blighted site to help spur development. A TIF district freezes a property's assessed value and any new or increased taxes generated by developments are used to pay for site improvements.
Carpentersville's agreement with WT Group/Olive Street Development allows for the use of TIF monies until 2038 or until a a cap of $10.97 million is reached, which ever comes first according to Ben Mason, Carpentersville's community development director. He added the Huntley Square property generated about $36,000 in property taxes in 2020.
Once the site is developed, officials estimate it would generate $600,000 to $650,000 in property taxes. The majority would be rebated to the developer through the TIF agreement.
The Village also agreed to waive building permit fees, estimated to cost $1 million for the project according to Mason.
Even though the area around the project is surrounded by commercial development, Village and WT Group officials said they believed a residential development would work best for the 3-acre site.
Eric Johnson, the Village manager stated that the Village had tried to attract business development to that site for years to no avail.
Village officials are hoping that by bringing more residents to the area, that this could help spur development and support existing businesses.
Johnson stated he had received a call from a developer who heard about the Iron Flats project and had early discussions with the Village about a potential retail or office development in the area. He thinks this is going to be a great project to jump-start redevelopment on that corner.
