Kankakee housing project vote tabled

KANKAKEE – An expected final vote on a developer’s plans for numerous lots at the Indian Meadows subdivision in Kankakee’s far west side will wait for two more weeks.

The developer for 53 lots at the complex in the city’s 3rd Ward, Dr. Anuja Gupta and her development company, Limestone Townhomes LLC, will likely come before the Kankakee City Council on May 5.

Kankakee Mayor Chris Curtis said when seeking to have the second reading of a development agreement acted upon that Gupta sought a meeting with the council’s Economic Development Committee.

The committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, and Gupta is slated to make a presentation.

She is seeking some development concessions and economic incentives to help support the project, as the chief issue is the building permit fee structure for the upcoming five years.

The city appears to be willing to reduce fees for a five-year period. There is also an issue of the city rebating a portion of the property taxes over a period of years. The exact number of years is being discussed.

She is planning to invest an estimated $40 million to construct 128 townhome units in a combination of duplex and fourplex structures along Illinois Route 113.

The Indian Meadows subdivision dates back to 2007. Properties have been developed there, but the majority of the lots remain empty.

Gupta is trying to change that fact.

The 118-lot subdivision, started when Mayor Donald Green was in office, is just north of the Riverside Medical Center campus.

The first reading of the incentive agreement went before the council on April 7, but some of the issues had not yet been finalized. The hope was all issues would have been resolved by Monday’s council meeting.