Regency development revisited

A lengthy portion of the February 24 Huntley Village Board meeting was a presentation by Lynd Living and the proposed development of Regency Square. Before the presentation could begin, Village Trustee Niko Kanakaris announced his partial ownership of BO2 Investments, the present owners of the property, and recused himself from any discussion or votes regarding the property. Kanakaris left the meeting.

Regency Square is the 45-acre property bordered on the north by Charles Sass Parkway (formerly Kreutzer Road) on the east by Princeton Drive and the Deerpath Supportive Living facility on the south. The western edge of the proposed buildings would be 500 to 665 feet from Del Webb’s Neighborhood 7.

The property was purchased from the Standard Bank and Trust by BO2 Investments in 2016. The 2016 purchase agreement included an agreed extension of Regency Parkway to connect with the then Kreutzer Road.

BO2 Investments appeared before the Board on May 27 for a conceptual review of a rezoning request to change the property’s zoning from “BP” Business Park and “C-2” Commercial to “MF-2” multi-family residential. At that time the potential buyer was not disclosed. The Board denied the requested rezoning.

Lynd Living, headquartered in San Antonio, TX, is now the contractual purchaser of record for the property. Lynd is proposing building 15 six-unit 3-story buildings and one four-unit building with 94 townhome units along with two 4-story apartment buildings, with elevators, with a total of 296 units. There development would have a total of 390 units. In addition, the extension of Regency Parkway to connect with Sass Parkway has been eliminated.

The site plan includes approximately 9 acres of the west side of the property, adjacent to Del Webb’s Neighborhood 7, as open space in the form of a prairie preserve that would include a waking trail.

Charles Nordman, Huntley Director of Development, began the presentation by reminding all that “This is a conceptual review and no formal action will be taken.”

He continued, “The Village Board is not required to provide a formal position statement on the proposal, and the petitioner shall not be required to comply with any position statements which are offered.”

Nordman reminded the Lynd Living representatives that “The Village Board and its individual members are not bound by any comments made during the discussion and the petitioner acknowledges that it cannot claim in the future any reliance whatsoever on those comments.”

The presentation included a count of 746 parking spaces, of which 170 are underground for the apartment buildings and 188 are garage spaces for the townhomes with an additional 384 exterior spaces.

Nordman completed his presentation with a statement that “The Village Board is requested to discuss the proposed rezoning and provide any questions, comments, or concerns for the petitioner to consider as they proceed in the formal review process.”

Peter Bazos, Attorney for Lynd Living, was introduced and made a presentation on behalf of Lynd Living. He restated the current zoning and the requested changing the zoning to MF-2. He said that the Lynd project “would be much less intense than the current zoning, with business activities, but instead would be of a low density in nature due to residential activities.”

Bazos then introduced Anthony Tiritili, Lynd President of Development, who spoke about the Lynd organization and the proposed housing units. He described Lynd as a “national organization that specializes in multi-family housing acquisition and development.”

He stated that “the Lynd organization has 400 employees with properties in 14 states and more than 20,000 units under management.” Tiritili estimated that “the value of the Huntley project will be north of $120 million.” He further said that “we go into communities and build class A properties.”

“We have projects underway in Oswego and Willow Springs,” he reported. He described the Willow Springs project as “similar to what we’re proposing for Huntley.”

He posed the question, “Why Huntley?” and he answered with the statement that “Huntley is a high owner property community with 80% of the homes being owned by the occupants.” He then indicated that “there is a high degree of demand for Class A rental properties in the area.”

“The site is one of the best multi-family locations that I’ve come across in a long time for a suburban project” he added. This project “has open space requirements that I have never done before.” He also commented that the “ability to walk to shops and diner along with close proximity to the highway system” was unique. Tiritili continued by reiterating the site design as previously presented by Nordman.

Tiritili described the amenities that Lynd Living offers its tenants. He described the townhomes as “a modern farmhouse design” and that the rental cost would be similar to a mortgage payment. He said that “this is a market rate rental community” and the “affordability won’t be for every resident that wants to live here.”

“Studio apartments will start at $1,000 per month and two-bedroom for $2,900 per month,” he detailed. He also speculated that “the development would produce upwards of $1.5 million” in property taxes and that the renters “could become home buyers.”

Bazos returned to the podium and highlighted the types of companies and businesses that would be permitted under the existing zoning codes. He then compared the Lynd Living proposal to the current zoning. He said that “the Village’s current MF-2 codes would allow between 720 and 1008 dwelling units on the 8.4-acre site, while Lynd Living is proposing only 390 units.” He concluded that the 390 units “represent 36% of the units allowed by the code.”

Additionally, he commented that “the developer has read the tweets and comments from the Del Webb residents” and modified the original plan to have 77% open space.

Bazos closed by commenting on the size of investment already made by Lynd Living and expressed hope that the board would give “some guidance as to your feelings about the project, because if you don’t want it, they won’t do it, and we hope that that won’t be the case.”

At this point, Major Hoeft opened the meeting for public comment and David Applegate of Sun City was the first to speak. He reported on numerous Lynd Living negative ratings found on the internet. “The Better Business Bureau has given Lynd Living a D-minus rating,” said Applegate.

Ryan Paulrenky of Woodstock, said “I’ve been a Huntley hopeful for quite a while, but you can’t find homes.” He continued, “something like this needs to happen if you want to raise a family in Huntley.” He commented that “this spacing reflects the same kind of spacing in Del Webb.”

Charlie French of Neighborhood 7 in Del Webb spoke next. “We admire the work that the Village Trustees have done,” he said. “This is the first time I’m come to a meeting to speak up. Bringing multi-families to our doorstep is not consistent with our community.”

Kevin Irving of Neighborhood 7 reported that “there are more than one-thousnd names on a petition to prevent this from coming to the area.” Irving continued, “think about the traffic in the area. This would be a disaster.”

Bob Karas, owner of the Karas Group of 13 restaurants including Rookies in Huntley, was next to speak. “Rookies has been in business in Huntley since 2013 and this location is one of the weakest of our group.” He continued, “my lease is up in 2023 and I’m going to walk away from the business if things don’t improve.” In Karas’ opinion, “the Lynd project is promising. We need more population density here.” He concluded, “I don’t think it will change the feel of Huntley with this project.”

Jim Uszler, President of Del Webb’s Neighborhood Watch was next to speak.

“I know that the board wants a high-quality product in Huntley,” began Uszler. “And I’m not sure we’re seeing it with this company.” He suggested that the Trustees check with the Woodstock police to “get a report on the number of calls they get at the Lynd property in Woodstock.” He continued, “there’s no talk about any kind of barrier between the development and our side of the berm and that’s something to consider.”

Jill Portello, Huntley resident, commented that the Village Board has been “mindful of controlled growth.” She speculated that “If the traffic issues can be resolved it opens the door for younger people.”

Jonathan Kaye, the property manager for Tanglewood Properties and the Regency Square Association, was next to speak. He reminded the board that “Princeton Drive is a private road owned and maintained by regency square association.” He commented that the properties on Princeton Drive pay membership dues to the association” and wondered “if Lynd Living, having access to Princeton Drive, would be paying dues to the association.”

After the Public Comments were concluded, Mayor Hoeft asked Board members for their comments and questions. Ronda Goldman, Village Trustee and Sun City resident, was the first to speak. She asked “if Lynd would have a property manager on the premises” and Tiritili said that they would. She also asked if “sublets would be allowed” and Tiritili said “in the right circumstances they would be allowed.”

She expressed the opinion that “the property could have as many as 800 cars and that would be a problem with the limited access points.” Tiritili responded that “a traffic study will be done and provided to the Board for review.”

Goldman concluded by saying that “You can tell that I have a lot of apprehension about this.”

Trustee Westberg was next to speak. “This was the most green space I have ever seen and it shows that you listened to the community.”

He also commented on a study that showed apartment dwellers generate less traffic than single family detached homes. “We need to see a traffic study” Westberg commented. He reminded Tiritili that “we care about our community a lot” and that “Huntley is a different character here.”

Westberg added, “I hear quality, but I am concerned about some of the (internet) reviews.” He concluded “I’m optimistic, but going to step lightly and see where we go with this.”

Trustee Holzkopf said ”that anyone that puts in this amount of time and effort, I would like to thank for even taking the consideration for coming to our town.” She continued, “all of us up here have a responsibility not just to Del Webb, not just to Talamore, North Ridge and Cambridge, but to our entire Village of Huntley.”

Holzkopf asked, “to who do you plan on renting these apartments, what clientele are you looking for?” Tiritili replied, “most of the single tenants in this building would be in the $50,000 to $70,000 per year income range.” She referenced the standard of 30% of income going for housing and an income study from 2019 of median income levels in Huntley. That report showed “for a single income individual that the average income is $40,307 which puts you at a maximum rent of $1,007.” She continued, “and a household median income was $75,100 which puts you at an absolute maximum rent of $1,877.” She expressed doubt that Lynd’s target renter lives in Huntley.

She then asked, “what is the capacity that you need to fill for you to be financially stable and to be able to sustain this project?” Tiritili said that the “break even occupancy would be in the mid 70% range.”

She asked if Lynd would “be willing to make 5% of this project affordable housing?”

Tiritili responded that they “would be willing to talk about that.” Mayor Hoeft interjected that “this is a conceptual review and not to put the cart before the horse.”

“Traffic is a huge concern” added Holzkopf. One report showed that “you would have more traffic as it is now zoned now than as an apartment building” she reported. “You have more in and out traffic from a commercial area than residential” she concluded. Tiritili responded that “we are very close to having the traffic study completed.” He continued that the “traffic study would include a comparison between the current zoning and multi-family.”

She concluded “I am for apartments in our town. I’m for affordable housing. I’m for all of it, but it needs to be done correctly.”

Trustee Kittel said “there’s a lot of good here, and I try to balance what we have and what we want to be and think that it’s a delicate balance.” He continued, “obviously there are still some concerns here to address and I appreciate the green space, the design and the amenities and that’s going to enhance our community as a whole.”

He continued, “I think we need to be able to diversify with rentals, doing it the right way.” We don’t have developers knocking on the door, wanting to come in to better our community.”

Kittel concluded, “Overall, obviously there is some concern and this is conceptual. I appreciate you listening to past comments and from the board. The word that sticks with me is how flexible you seem to be, because you want to be part of the community. You’re not going to invest $120 million in a community to pack up and leave.”

Mayor Hoeft was the last to speak.

“I get a little irritated when I hear people say Huntley is a retirement community. Del Webb is a big part of our community but that’s not what makes us what we are,” he said. He continued, “With that being said, over the past year Regency Square has been a hot topic throughout the whole community.

He commented, “There could be heavier uses, as a commercial property, and be closer and effect Del Webb neighborhood 7 more than this plan proposes.” He stated, “I would tend to agree that you will have less traffic in general when compared to commercial use.”

Hoeft added, “We are elected officials for the entire Village. Everybody’s voice matters. It’s not just because it’s in somebody’s backyard that this should or shouldn’t happen. I would put myself in any house in neighborhood 7 backed up to this.”

He continued, “I’m sure that if we talked to the proposed developer and said that we needed a bigger buffer or something else that they would probably be able to looked at it and take it into consideration.”

Hoeft concluded, “We’ve got to go at it with an open mind. It sat vacant for 20 years for a reason and if we’ve got someone interested with a piece that fits, that it’s worth taking a look at it.”

At Hoeft’s request all of the Trustees voiced their informal opinions on the proposed development. Each spoke favorably toward the proposal.

Bazos offered to have the Lynd Living come back in the near future with an updated conceptual proposal for the board to review. Hoeft said that it would be an acceptable next step.

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