Lockport City Council approves plan for new Sadie Ridge subdivision

Lockport — The Lockport City Council approved a revised concept plan for a new residential development just south of Cedar Ridge Estates at its final meeting of the year on Wednesday.

The plan was created by M/I Homes and is a modification of a plan the developer presented in early November.

The new development, officially called Sadie Ridge, is north of Bruce Road and east of Interstate-355, south of the existing Cedar Ridge subdivision and will contain 260 homes comprised of townhomes and single-family houses.

According to board documents, the 78-acre parcel of land was planned for use as an age-restricted, senior community in 2009. That plan was never completed, however, so the zoning reverted to standard residential designations.

As originally presented to the Committee of the Whole in November, the M/I plan included 278 units made up of townhomes and three sizes of single-family houses, although this received significant criticism from the committee members and the public, who expressed concerns that the end product would be too congested and create issues with flooding, traffic and school crowding.

The Nov. 6 plan included 114 townhomes and 164 single-family homes. The version approved on Wednesday eliminated more than 100 of the smallest sized single-family homes and replaced them with an additional 14 townhomes and more medium-sized lots.

Overall, the new plan includes 128 townhomes, 132 single-family lots ranging in size from 7,200 square feet to 9,000 square feet, as well as a 3.2-acre park.

Greg Collins, M/I’s director of land acquisitions, who presented the plan to the board Wednesday with the developer’s attorney Caitlin Csuk, said that the townhomes – which will range in size from 1,500 to 2,100 square-feet – will be priced in “the high $300,000s to low $400,000s” and that the single-family homes, which will range in actual building size from 2,300 to 3,300 square feet, will cost between $550,000 and $625,000.

Despite the plan doing little to assuage the countywide shortage of new smaller or affordable housing stock acknowledged recently by the Will County Centers for Economic Development – something M/I noted the original plan was meant to address by including “starter homes” in the development– the board praised the changes to the proposal.

“I think this is a big improvement,” said 1st Ward Alderwoman Susan King. “I like it much better eliminating the small units.”

This sentiment was shared by 4th Ward Alderwoman Joanne Bartelsen who said “the new project doesn’t look as congested.”

After receiving unanimous approval for the concept plan, M/I will begin work on a final site plan, which will likely be presented to the City Council in spring 2025.

Community and Economic Development Director Lance Thies said the project likely will begin construction in 2026 by the time it receives all the necessary approvals.