Oswego village trustees green-light concept plans for 600-plus unit subdivision, commercial corridor

The Oswego Village Board has approved developer’s concept plan to build more than 600 housing units on 160 acres at Wolfs Crossing Road and Route 30 that is proposed to be annexed to Oswego.

Oswego Grand Development, LLC., wants to build 656 housing units as part of its plan, which includes 125 single-family houses, 111 for sale townhouses, 132 rental townhouses and 288 apartment units. The project also includes 32.2 acres of commercial/retail space.

At the Aug. 20 Oswego Village Board meeting, the majority of village trustees voted in favor of the concept plans. Voting “no” was village trustee Kit Kuhrt.

Kuhrt said he was concerned about the project’s density as well as its impact on traffic in the area.

“There are currently no plans by the state to widen Route 30,” he said. ‘It’s not even in their sights.”

At the July 11 Oswego Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, commissioners said that while they like the overall look and feel of the plan, they had concerns about the density of the project. They recommended to the Village Board that consideration be given to reducing the project’s overall density.

The 160.6-acre property is located at the southwest corner of Wolfs Crossing Road and Route 30, just east of the Hudson Pointe and Emblem housing developments in Oswego. It currently is unincorporated and is zoned for agriculture use in Kendall and Will counties.

As Carrie Hansen, director of planning & government services for Oswego-based Schoppe Design Associates Inc. told village trustees, the housing units would sport a modern look.

“While it’s modern, it also has some prairie style lines and elements to it,” Hansen said. “The Plan Commission was very supportive and excited about the architecture proposed for the residential uses on the property.”

The development would pay more than $6 million in impact fees and land/cash donations to the village’s taxing bodies, including a cash equivalent to the Oswegoland Park District of about $1.5 million and a cash donation to Oswego School District 308 of about $1.8 million.

A gas station with a car wash and a grocery store are proposed as part of the commercial aspect of the project. The plans also call for a religious institution to be built on four acres on the south end of the project.

The proposed commercial corridor also would look more distinctive than surrounding commercial corridors.

“The residential and commercial are intentionally different and special, to create a sense of arrival by physically announcing that you are entering Oswego,” Hansen said. “And we’re pretty proud of that and we’re happy to be part of presenting that.”

Village President Ryan Kauffman liked the plan’s design.

“The look of it is beautiful,” he said. “It is high-end, it is upscale. And I think that will be very, very successful on that corner. I think that’s just what Oswego needs.”

He asked what type of stores would locate in the commercial corridor. Hansen replied the stores would be along the lines of specialty stores – retail businesses that focus on specific product categories.

She estimated the commercial corridor could hold between 20 to 25 stores, which pleased Kauffman.

“That’s what we want, we want more stores,” Kauffman said. “We want more options for people to shop at.”

The project also includes about 30 acres of open space consisting of a four-acre park, about 22 acres for stormwater management, a clubhouse on 1.1 acres and three acres of miscellaneous open space.

An indoor golf course is being proposed south of the development. Plans call for the construction of four 270,000 square foot golf domes that would house the 9-hole golf course along with a practice facility. An 8,000 square-foot clubhouse also is proposed.

Trustee Karen Novy was wondering why some of the townhouses will be for rent while others will be for sale.

“Why not make them all for sale?” she asked.

Hansen said the developer is trying to cater to two different markets.

“There’s a very strong market, which I’m sure you are all aware of, for rental townhomes, not just in Oswego, but region-wide,” she said.

Novy also wanted to see more single-family houses in the development.

“I feel there’s still a big need for single-family homes in Oswego,” she said. “And there’s only 125 [single-family homes] in this. I personally would like to see an increase in single-family homes in the development.”

The project is adjacent to the future Wikaduke Trail, the planned north-south roadway connecting Will, Kane, DuPage and Kendall counties. As proposed, the developer would dedicate 140 feet of right-of-way for the Wikaduke Trail and would construct two lanes of the future four lane roadway.

Trustee Karin McCarthy-Lange said she liked many parts of the proposed development, including that the developer is helping move the Wikaduke Trail project forward.

“That is like the missing link to we definitely need in our community to help ease the traffic that’s going north and south,” she said.

However, McCarthy-Lange was also concerned about the project’s density.

“I would like to see the density reduced,” she said. “I echo what trustee Novy said, maybe [there could be] some more single-family homes.”

McCarthy-Lange said that IDOT needs to expand Route 30 to accommodate the additional traffic the area is already seeing.