Planned Retirement Community Moves Forward On Founders Drive

Northbrook residents will likely see a 193,000-square-foot retirement community taking shape on Founders Drive within the next two years.

Planned for a total of 130 units of independent senior living, the Lodge of Northbrook is set to open sometime in 2013, provided that developer Essex Corporation can obtain village board approval for a handful of special permits and other zoning modifications. 

At a meeting of the planning and zoning committee Tuesday night, committee members peppered Doug Deines of Essex Corporation with tough questions regarding construction, sale and affordability. The project was originally approved by the village board in 2009, but changes in plans for the building’s exterior, roof and number of units required the developers to go back to the village for approval. Ultimately, the planning and zoning committee voted to recommend village board approval of the Lodge’s requests for amendments to its original plans—with a few special requests. 

“Affordable” Requirement Built Into Plans 

Planning and zoning committee member and village trustee James Karagianis told Deines he believed the issue of affordability was “the biggest hurdle” Essex Corporation faced in convincing the committee to support the project. 

When the Lodge of Northbrook was originally approved by the board of trustees in 2009, the village created a new zoning district for the project, with a requirement that 10 percent of units be “affordable.” As defined by the village, “affordable” meant that a unit was available to anyone with an annual household income equal to or less than 60 percent of the median household income of Northbrook residents age 65 or older.

Under the developer’s new proposal, the Lodge would have 15 percent of units classified as “affordable,” with 5 percent of those affordable to anyone with a household income less than 50 percent of the median of seniors age 65 or older and 10 percent available to anyone with an income between 50 and 80 percent of the median. Affordable units were increased to meet the request of the Divine Word Society, which owns the land at Founders Drive where Essex Corporation hopes to construct The Lodge. 

For the least expensive units, residents would now have to put down an $84,782 entry fee, and pay $1,635 per month. Under the old plan, the entry fee was $30,000 and monthly payments were capped at $1,761. The developers based their affordability standards on projected median household income in 2013 as well as median home prices within a three-mile radius of the site. 

“We don’t think the entrance fee will be a significant issue,” Deines said. “For seniors, typically asset is not their problem.”

The entrance fee would also be refunded to the resident or his or her estate when he or she moves out, according to Deines.

“We think we defined it as how affordable independent senior living in Northbrook should be defined,” he said.

Committee Members Worry Lodge Won’t Sell

In addition to the issue of affordable housing, Karagianis said another big concern was whether the developers would be able to sell enough units to make the place a success. 

The building is currently planned for construction in two separate phases, with 58 units expected to be complete in 2013 and a second, 48-unit addition planned for the future, provided there is enough demand. The original plans called for up to 140 units, but Deine said that Essex Corporation reduced the total number to 130 but kept the square-footage the same because buyers wanted bigger spaces.

“They gave you money for this already? These are real sales?” asked Trustee Karagianis. 

Karagianis said he had visited another Essex Corporation community in Geneva, and liked what he saw. But he was worried that in this economy, the Northbrook site could remain unsold—leaving the village with a huge, vacant building with no reuse.

According to Deine, however, Essex Corporation has already sold several units, and the group’s financing is dependent on selling 50 percent of the square-footage before the building is built. 

“If there’s no market, it wouldn’t have been built,” Deine said. “It’s not going to be built and sit there empty.” 

Members of the plan committee suggested that the village create a covenant matching the bank’s, which would require Essex Corporation to sell a certain amount of space in the building in advance. Deine said his company would be willing to agree to something, so long as it didn’t create different requirements from the bank. 

Pending village board approval, Essex Corporation hopes to start construction this fall, according to President Kent Braasch. He said the project would likely take at least 15 months to complete.