Will County development leader: Affordable housing a critical need for local economy

Will County needs more apartments and affordable housing to keep young people close to home and give a growing workforce places to live, the head of the Will County Center for Economic Development said Wednesday.

“In general, your kids can’t afford your house, and that’s a problem because we don’t have alternatives for them to live in the community where they grew up,” Will County CED President and CEO Doug Pryor said.

Pryor’s comments were made during a presentation on Will County housing trends to the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

His presentation was followed by so many questions that one Chamber official said it may have been “a record” number for a luncheon presentation.

The response suggested that the topic struck a chord at a time that housing costs are soaring but many communities continue to resist proposals for apartments.

The average monthly mortgage payment in Will County has shot up since 2019 from $1,071 to $2,200, Pryor said.

“The payment has more than doubled in that time,” he said.

The median price for a house in Will County has increased from $255,000 in December 2020 to $345,000 in December 2024 at a time that mortgage interest rates have been rising as well.

Apartment living typically offers an alternative to high mortgages. But rents have been rising, too, especially at those apartment buildings that have been constructed in recent years.

The average monthly rent in Will County is $1,670, Pryor said. For apartments built since 2015, the average rent is $2,170.

A couple of people in the audience pointed to the high cost of apartment rentals as reasons young people choose to buy a house or why older people decide not to downsize.

Rick Kwasneski, a Lemont resident, said he looked at townhouse options but would have to pay between $2,500 and $2,800 a month.

“Why would I rent?” Kwasneski said. “I’m going to stay in my home.”

Kwasneski also is chairman of the board that oversees the Pace suburban bus service.

He said the housing challenges in Will County are evident in bus ridership.

“You’ve got this huge workforce, and they’ve got no place to live,” Kwasneski said. “From a Pace perspective, we’re bringing people from throughout the region to work here.”

Will County has the fastest-growing workforce in Illinois and is among the fastest growing in the Midwest.

Will County has added 15,450 jobs in the past five years, the most in Illinois. Even in comparison with the five states that border Illinois and Michigan, only two counties have shown higher job growth, Pryor said.

Housing, he said, “hasn’t grown at a rate commensurate with job creation.”

Even so, Will County also has led the state in new home construction over the past five years, with 6,800 single-family homes having been built, Pryor said.

The county was adding 8,000 houses a year in the early 2000s when Will County was among the fastest-growing counties in the U.S., he said.

Apartment construction has lagged, he said.

Pryor pointed to DuPage and Lake counties as two suburban counties with much higher levels of apartment housing while also maintaining higher income levels than Will County.

Will County since 2000 has built 6,000 apartment units while building 66,000 single-family homes, he said.

“We are behind at building diverse housing in this county,” Pryor said.