Apartments, senior housing, potential parking garage for Metra riders planned for Woodstock’s Die Cast land

Woodstock is one step closer to developing the former Die Cast property in the downtown area.

The plans for the property near the train station currently call for three phases, the first consisting of 70 affordable senior apartments, with construction slated to occur this year, according to city documents.

Phase two, consisting of about 150 units of senior assisted living, is scheduled to begin in 2025.

Plans for phase three are the “hardest to project right now,” but “given current market conditions,” the developer, Chicago Hubs Realty, “feels comfortable” proposing 80 one- and two-bedroom affordable market rate apartments. However, that could increase to 150 as the third phase “moves closer to actual development,” according to city documents.

The third phase also calls for 25,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, with retail facing Clay Street and a restaurant with outdoor patio space proposed to be facing the south, toward the Woodstock Square.

The third phase is proposed to include a parking garage with at least 200 spots. If built, according to city documents, it would not only provide parking for residents, employees and customers, but it could replace the 133-space Metra parking lot at Clay and Church streets. That lot would be converted to a public open space with a possible open-air pavilion.

The garage also could address other “high-volume demands for parking” in the area, such as for visitors and “occasional events” in the new open space.

The approved agreement includes an option for either the developer or the city to walk away from the third phase.

The City Council voted Tuesday night to approve the redevelopment agreement with Chicago Hubs Realty.

The entire three-phase plans are budgeted to cost $108 million, city documents show. To make the project a reality, the developer is seeking $18 million in public assistance in the form of tax increment financing funds. The largest portion of that, $12.5 million, would be for the parking garage.

A TIF district is a redevelopment incentive for which increased property tax revenue generated by new construction within the district is funneled back into the project to cover some redevelopment costs until the TIF expires, typically in 23 years.

The Woodstock site sits in a TIF district that was approved in 2019 and is set to expire in 2042.

Although TIFs typically funnel money away from taxing bodies such as school districts, the Woodstock Die Cast redevelopment agreement would allow Woodstock School District 200 to capture the tax revenue before the TIF expires.

Mayor Mike Turner said approving the development agreement is among the “significant milestones” for the project.

Still, city documents point out potential drawbacks, noting that “an objection that has been raised is whether the immediate downtown is the right location for senior housing and an assisted living center. The land could be more productive to the downtown economy if a similar density of market rate housing were present.”

One resident at this week’s City Council meeting also raised concerns about increased traffic in the area.

On the upside, the proposed senior housing would create jobs, generate visitors to the area who are nonresidents and yield higher property tax receipts than an apartment building of similar size, according to city documents.

The project still has some steps to go before construction can commence, including approvals of building plans. It also must pass through the Plan Commission approval of the final plat, among other action items, according to city documents.