Politics & Government

Village Board Reviews Plans for LITH Apartment

Representatives from Banner Apartments LLC shared sketch plans for a two-building apartment complex on Algonquin Road with village board trustees last week.

Developers presented sketch plans for two apartment buildings earmarked for the northeast side of Algonquin and Pyott roads during a village board meeting last week. 

Chris Hooker, development associate for B-Dev, a subsidary of Banner Apartments, shared the conceptual plans for Prairie Trail Apartments with village board trustees at the Tuesday night committee of the whole meeting. Banner is seeking to construct a 59-unit apartment complex at 1000 Algonquin Road, which is just east of Pyott Road. 

“There is a lot of demand for multi-family apartments,” said Hooker, whose company owns and operates 25 rental properties throughout the Midwest — most of which are located in Chicago and St. Louis. “We’re seeing strong demand. People want to rent, not buy.”

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Hooker told trustees his company is in the midst of contract negotiations to purchase the 5.15 unincorporated acres that is zoned A-1 Agricultural in the county. The eastern portion of the property borders Algonquin and the western side connects to Lake in the Hills.

Dan Olson, Community Development Director for the village of Lake in the Hills, said the site would have to be annexed into the village. The land is not identified in the boundary agreement LITH has with Algonquin and is not noted in the village's comprehensive plans, Olson said.

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Hooker said he will apply for a full access permit from McHenry County Department of Transportation so the apartment residents could enter and exit onto Algonquin Road. However, both he and village trustees acknowledged he could likely only acquire approval for a right-turn-only entrance and right-turn-only exit onto the busy road.

In which case, the developer would like to connect to the frontage road leading from Pyott Road to at 1020 W. Algonquin Road.

In a previous meeting with the village's Planning and Zoning Commission, Hooker said his company had preliminary conversations with the county road department and will apply for a major access permit. Banner will likely have to do a traffic study, Hooker said.

Preliminary proposals for the apartment complex call for two, three-story buildings; one with 36 units and the other with 23 units. The developer discussed including sidewalks throughout the property, bike racks and a connection to the McHenry County Prairie Trail Bike Path, which runs along the northern side of the site.

However, a large area of wetlands covers the northern part of the property.

Joseph Gottemoller, the attorney representing Banner, said the developer would have to get permission to connect to the bike path from the McHenry County Conservation District.

Gottemoller said it's likely the developer will seek a parking variance.

The company would reduce the number of parking stalls on the site as the wetlands area is not buildable.That concerned some plan commissioners who pointed out there are no area streets near the property to accommodate overflow parking.

Hooker said he will proceed with formalizing plans for the project.


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