St. Charles commission hears concept plans for two residential developments

Nearly 300 new apartments and 80 new townhomes could be constructed in St. Charles as two separate developments are in the early stages of the city’s development plan review process.

St. Charles developer J&B Builders Inc. submitted concept plans to build River 504 Townhomes, an eight-unit townhome development downtown, and Florida based developer Lennar submitted concept plans to build Emblem St. Charles, a mix of 288 apartments and 72 townhomes on the city’s west side.

St. Charles Plan Commission members reviewed concept plans for both proposed developments at their Oct. 22 meeting.

River 504 Townhomes

Applicant Julie Salyers, on behalf of J&B Builders Inc. submitted the concept plan for River 504 Townhomes on Sept. 17. This would be the final addition to the Brownstone PUD downtown, which began redevelopment in the early 2000s.

Salyers and J&B Builders treasurer Brian Bouy presented the plans at the Oct. 22 meeting.

Plans call for eight townhome units in four four-story buildings with rooftop terraces on the vacant lot at the northeast corner of First and Prairie streets.

As proposed, each unit would face First Street and have a two-car garage in the rear, accessible via private driveways from Limestone Drive.

The property was zoned for mixed use in 2005, but developers are looking to eliminate the commercial aspect of the plan. If the development moves forward, the property would need to be rezoned to residential.

Applicants told committee members they are looking at a price point of about $1.5 million or more for each townhome unit and they intend to pay $14,687 in lieu of providing affordable units.

Plan Commission members were receptive to the plans and supportive of the architectural style proposed. Most of the feedback from commission members was focused around the building’s setbacks and streetscape improvements.

Emblem St. Charles

Applicant Jeff Woll, on behalf of Quarterra Multifamily Communities, a subsidiary of the Lennar Corporation, submitted the concept plan for Emblem St. Charles, a mix of apartments and townhomes, on Sept. 27.

Woll and Lennar representative Richard Murphy presented the plans at the Oct. 22 meeting.

The plans call for 288 multi-family rental units in 12 three-story buildings and 72 townhome units in 18 three-story buildings.

The 360-unit development would be located on a 29-acre parcel on the south side of Route 38, west of Metro Self Storage. The parcel is farmed land that has been for sale for several years and developers are under contract to buy the property from owner Todd Dempsey.

The multi-family portion would include 144 one-bedroom units, 132 two-bedroom units, 12 three-bedroom units, a clubhouse with a pool, a dog park and a parking garage. The apartments are expected to range in price from $1,700 to $3,100.

All of the townhomes would be three-bedroom units with two-car garages around a single-street cul-de-sac.

The community’s main access road would be off Route 38, with secondary access from the east just south of Metro Self Storage.

If the development moves forward, the property would have to be rezoned from business to residential use and a traffic impact study will be required.

According to the concept plan, developers intend to pay a total of $1,775,045 to the city in lieu of providing affordable units, $1,719,575 to the park district in lieu of 7.15 acres of park land and $499,975 in land cash contributions to St. Charles School District 303.

Plan Commission members were happy with the overall density of the development, but encouraged developers to improve the connectivity and walkability between the apartment and townhome sections and to consider adding a larger park feature.

The concept plan is the first of several phases in the city’s development review process, which allows staff and committee members to provide the applicant with feedback but does not make formal recommendations.

The next steps, should developers wish to continue, would be to submit a preliminary plan application to be reviewed again by the Plan Commission, the Planning and Development Committee and City Council, which would make formal recommendations and may require a public hearing before the final planning stages. The final plans would be reviewed again by committees before going to the St. Charles City Council for final approval.