A not-for-profit affordable housing developer received a green light last week to build a four-story, 48-unit apartment building in downtown Northbrook for people with developmental or intellectual disabilities.
The Northbrook Village Board voted unanimously to amend a development agreement allowing the nonprofit, Housing Opportunities Development Corporation, to spend nearly $24 million in public and private funds to construct the apartment building, to be called Poupard Place, on 1.5 acres at 1657 Shermer Road.
The entire board and four residents spoke in favor of the proposal, which is expected to break ground as early as April, according to the nonprofit’s website.
“I’m thrilled to do this,” said Trustee Johannah Hebl, chair of the Planning and Economic Development Committee. “And it might be the best thing I’ve ever done up here.”
“I hope that affordable housing will enable people like myself to spend the rest of our lives in a community that has accepted us for who we are and has accepted the fact there is going to be other adults like us who are going to stay in the communities we grew up in,” said James Williams, a resident who said he has autism.
Among the $23.9 million in funding secured by HODC are $14.8 million in private investment through federal tax credits, $7.8 million in direct federal and state funding, and more than $1.2 million in private grants, said Amy McEwan, director of planning and development for the village.
Officials said a goal of the supportive housing is to allow disabled residents to live independently.
“Supportive housing offers a home for persons with disabilities at affordable rates,” said Northbrook Spokesman Nicholas Glenn via email. “Management will partner with local social service agencies as needed to help residents maintain their independence.”
The village of Northbrook will manage the 48 apartments at Poupard Place. The units are reserved for households with at least one member, adult or child, who is living with a “chronic disability,” Glenn said.
“Rents will be affordable to households earning less than 60% of area median income, or about $65,000 (a year) for a family of four,” he said.
The origins of the deal started when the village of Northbrook purchased the 10.3 acre former site of W.W. Grainger, an industrial supply company, in 2018 for $8 million.
A development company called Quarterra Multifamily Company, or QMC, had a contract to purchase the 10.3-acre property in 2022 for $10.5 million and planned to build about 335 luxury apartments in a five-story mixed-use development on about 8.8 acres, said Glenn.
Ultimately, that did not happen.
At the Feb. 11 Village Board meeting, McEwan said, “The village amended the development agreement after QMC Northbrook Holdings, which originally had planned to develop the property, did not close on acquisition of the site.”
The initial agreement called for QMC to acquire the property and immediately donate one of the two lots to HODC, McEwan said.
“QMC is no longer a party to the original agreement or this amended agreement and has no right or interest in any portion of the property,” McEwan said.
Northbrook plans to evaluate the remaining 8.8 acre property for use as a temporary municipal facility, including the possibility of locating a police station there while the village builds permanent headquarters for the department, he said.
“The termination of the agreement occurred as the developer failed to meet the latest deadline for purchase of the property amid rising costs and challenges in securing capital for large-scale developments, a trend observed nationwide,” Glenn said.
The project was originally envisioned as a way to attract new households to the downtown area and bolster the local business community, Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said.
“However, with the market for large developments at a near standstill, the village has determined that granting additional time under the agreement is no longer in the community’s best interest, and we are now focused on exploring new opportunities for the site, such as a temporary headquarters for our police, if needed during construction of a new facility,” she said.
