A ‘good start’: Glen Ellyn approves 42-unit affordable housing development

Clara Hughes has been part of a long-running effort to build affordable housing in Glen Ellyn.

As a leader of a group called DuPage United through her church, Hughes advocated for an apartment development on part of a village-owned site close to public transit, a park and three grocery stores.

“You heard directly from people who need affordable, supportive housing. These voices sometimes go unheard … You listened,” Hughes told village trustees last week shortly before the board unanimously approved the developer’s request for zoning relief.

Nonprofit Full Circle Communities now hopes to break ground this August. Full Circle intends to create 42 units of affordable housing near the Roosevelt Road corridor.

“We know that the need is far greater than our 42 units, but we’re still really proud that we’re able to move this project ahead,” Executive Vice President Lindsey Haines said Tuesday.

No less than 55% of the units will be reserved as supportive housing for people with disabilities, according to the terms of a redevelopment agreement also approved by the village board Monday.

Cordogan, Clark & Associates, the architectural firm behind the Glen Ellyn Public Library, designed a three-story building with “Tudor-modern detailing,” Vice President Therese Thompson said.

“I think it’s a beautiful building. I like the nod to Tudor,” Trustee Steve Thompson said of an architectural style long associated with the village. “I think it’s going to be a beautiful addition to that area.”

Becky Beilfuss and other parents of adult children with disabilities have voiced support for the plans. Full Circle also plans to partner with the Association for Individual Development to provide on-site supportive services.

“I only hope that my daughter will be able to utilize one of those apartments, so that when her dad and I are not here to make sure that she is OK, that they are there for her,” Beilfuss told the village’s plan commission. “She is a Glen Ellyn resident. She knows that end of town. She can walk everywhere she needs to be.

“This is perfect for us,” Beilfuss said.

Currently, Glen Ellyn has one group home for adult men with intellectual and developmental disabilities, noted Julie Evans, joined by her son, Miles, at the commission meeting.

“We clearly need more supportive housing here,” said Evans, calling the development a “good start to addressing a critical shortage.”

The village originally bought the formal hotel properties in January 2022 for $2.85 million. An ad hoc work group held public listening sessions to solicit public input and gather information on potential redevelopment. The village formally opened a request for proposals later that year.

Some residents instead pushed for commercial redevelopment. In what Trustee Anne Gould would call a “compromise,” the board last year agreed to sell four of the seven parcels to a commercial developer for $1.5 million.

Full Circle will pay the village $1.75 million for the three western parcels. Full Circle was drawn to the site because of its proximity to amenities like grocery stores, retail, health care, as well as transit that will connect residents to downtown Glen Ellyn and other commercial hubs, said Mary Donoghue, senior project manager.

Although the property is zoned for commercial uses, the lack of frontage along any major roadway would be a deterrent for commercial development for any business that requires visibility at this location,” said Jennifer Henaghan, Glen Ellyn’s community development director.

The village in 2023 released a housing assessment that showed 96 legally restricted affordable housing units in four buildings in Glen Ellyn.

“We feel like if we’re able to work through this process with the village of Glen Ellyn that it might inspire other communities to take a look at what the housing needs are in their community and to try to make a dent in an affordable housing problem that spans the whole Chicago region,” Haines said.

The Glen Ellyn development is planned for individuals or households earning between 30% and 80% of the Chicago metropolitan area’s median income. The building would include a mix of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Wider doorways in apartments can accommodate wheelchairs.

“When people can put down roots,” Hughes told the board, “our whole community thrives for generations to come.”