Plans to offer affordable housing for seniors and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Naperville could come to fruition by fall 2026 if city approvals and funding requests come through this fall.
The Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday will consider several permit and variance requests for Tower Court Residences, a 71-unit, multifamily complex proposed for the southeast corner of 103rd Street and Route 59, in an area of city-owned property known as the South 40 Lots.
Meanwhile, the project’s developer — Tower Court Naperville, a subsidiary of Wisonsin-based development firm Gorman & Co. — is expecting to hear back on two major funding requests for the venture over the next few months, according to Ron Clewer, Gorman’s Illinois market president.
Should zoning approvals and financing move forward as hoped, construction could start by May 2025 and be complete by November 2026, Clewer said. Tenants could start signing leases by early 2027, he said.
“We’re incredibly excited about this development … (so) we’re very hopeful that we meet the favor of the planning commission this week,” Clewer said. “And then from there, we continue to move on to get our next timeline items crossed off.”
City planners will consider several requests Wednesday, including one to rezone the site from B2 (Community Shopping Center District) to Office, Commercial and Institutional District.
City staff said in a report that they support the zoning change because it will allow Tower Court Residences to complement surrounding properties and fall in line with recent development in the area.
Over the past few years, the city has been working to develop the South 40 lots, according to Sara Kopinski, a community planner with the city’s Transportation, Engineering and Development department.
The city purchased the 40-acre site in the late 1980s for utility and fire protection uses. An elevated water tank, water reservoir and fire station were built there but 22 acres remain vacant and are no longer needed.
Part of the land has been sold for a 108,270-square-foot Life Time Athletic Resorts health club, plans for which received a positive recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission in May and were approved by the Naperville City Council.
Tower Court Residences will use a little more than 4 acres of the property, leaving just 4.5 acres for future development, Kopinski said.
The Tower Court developer also is seeking two conditional use permits and three code variances, including requests to provide less on-site parking than typically required, a small increase in permissible density and use of building materials other than those dictated by code.
Staff support all of the requests, which, after receiving the commission’s review, will go to the city council in November for final approval, Kopinski said.
When completed, a quarter of the Tower Court units will be leased to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Clewer said. The rest are earmarked for seniors 62 and older, he said.
The complex will have 52 one-bedroom and 18 two-bedroom units as well as one three-bedroom unit. If leased today, the one-bedroom units would cost between $589 and $1,179 per month, the two-bedroom units between $706 and $1414, and the three-bedroom unit about $1,634, Clewer said. However, costs will change by the time Tower Court is actually ready to start leasing, he said.
The total cost for the project is $26.66 million, Clewer said. The development is fully financed barring requested funds administered through DuPage County and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, he said.
Tower Court has been approved for low-income housing tax credits from the Illinois Housing Development Authority. The company is expecting to hear back about Federal Home Loan funds sometime later this month and from the county in December, he said.
Clewer said he is hopeful Tower Court Residences will inspire similar developments in Naperville in the future, noting there is “ample bandwidth” in the city for more affordable housing — especially for populations like seniors and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“We’ve always been asked by our cities to come back and do more,” Clewer said. “We hope that Naperville will feel the same way once we build (Tower Court) and fill it. Our hope is that Gorman would be able to do more work in the community.”
