Divided Highland Park City Council Approves 4-Story 'Wolbright' Condos

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The Highland Park City Council on Monday approved plans to demolish five existing single -family homes and build a four-story, 24-unit multi-family development next to the Highland Park Metra station.

Councilmembers voted 4-2 to approve a special use permit for a planned development, a development agreement and a plat of consolidation with a series of variations to allow Fulton Developers to construct "The Wolbright" between Oakwood Avenue and Walnut Street.

The council approved exceptions to the zoning code to allow the maximum height of the building to be 52 feet instead of 40 feet, to increase the maximum permitted lot coverage from 33.3 percent to 49 percent and to reduce the required front yard setback.

Developer Mark Muller told councilmembers that the project had been in the works for two years, and he and members of his firm had met and corresponded extensively with people who live nearby.

"Many neighbors had concerns, and we tried to work with the community as best we could," Muller said, ahead of the vote.

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Muller said the architectural design of the building aims to allow for more natural light, with corner units with multiple exposures.

"So we're not trying to maximize the site, we're not trying to squeeze in 35 units like we're allowed to do," he said. "We tried as best we could to do a quality development."

The development will include a 53-space underground parking garage with a driveway and circular drop-off connected to Walnut Street. And some residents — and councilmembers who voted against the project — advocated relocating the garage entrance onto LaSalle Place, the dead-end immediately south of Walnut.

Councilmember Andres Tapia, one of two who voted against the plan, called for getting the most out of the space on the LaSalle Place side so that the council does not regret it in the future when there is even more congestion on the other side of the building.

"We have a policy and a strategy to have greater density downtown. That's a given. We've endorsed that, we know why we want to do it," Tapia said.

"So I'm thinking, down the road, there's going to be more development there, and there will be more traffic — that's inevitable," he said. "But is this a moment to optimize the spaces that's there, when we have a chance to optimize the space, and create greater headroom for growth when growth happens just north of Walnut."

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The other vote against the project, Councilmember Annette Lidawer, also raised the issue of the Walnut Street driveway.

"I think it's a huge mistake for the future of our community," Lidawer said.

But the developer cited opinions from professionals and engineering best practices, explaining the ramp would need to be impractically steep with a 24-percent grade.

"Any vehicle that is not an SUV would hit the concrete, so the cars would be destroyed," Muller said. "It's not something we could — we wouldn't do the project."

Councilmember Adam Stolberg, himself the president of a property management firm, said the only way to get a driveway on LaSalle to an acceptable slope would be to move the entire building north.

"As the developer in me, you know, the LaSalle side is nice. It adds a little bit of privacy, a little bit of elegance, coming up instead of maybe not on as busy a street," Stolberg said.

"But at the end of the day, what I still struggle with is the safety component," he said. "And while we've talked about all these things, to me, the slope of the driveway is an issue and to not follow a best practice is troublesome to me."

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Councilmember Michelle Holleman warned that more people will attempt to cut through the alley on La Salle Place to get through to Green Bay Road.

"I think that is going to become an access route if we leave the route on La Salle, and I think that's a risk," Holleman said.

"This is my mom's neighborhood, I am here all the time walking in this area," she said. "So I again say this with great consideration, but after looking at everything I do believe that this is the best solution and I think we should proceed with the proposal we've been presented."

But Lidawer said the plan was moving too quickly.

"So it was also my mother's neighborhood, and frankly my second mother's neighborhood, so I'm there quite a bit," Lidawer said.

Lidawer said she supported current residential developments but said she did not have confident every resource has been expended to minimize the effects of the proposed development on traffic in the area.

"And it's directing it all toward Walnut, and I think it's just way too dense there right now," she said. "We've walked it not once, not twice, but different days, different times of day, just to get a feel for it. It is busy. It is busy with a parking lot there. It's a little bit frightening."

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Councilmember Tony Blumberg thanked the neighbors for their feedback about the plan. He said Walnut Street was capable of handling any increase in traffic associated with new development.

"A lot of the same concerns were expressed about some of the buildings that you're living in at the time that they were proposed," Blumberg said. "And the traffic has been managed well."

One nearby resident, Beth Russell, brought up the city's economic diversity and affordability during the portion of the meeting set aside for comments from the public. Highland Park, she noted, is proud of its diversity.

"But I think of the six homes that are being demolished and the people who live there — a couple of them have children in schools, we see the school buses there," Russell said. "And I understand that all new developments here in Highland Park have to have the lower priced, have to have the inclusive condos that are more available to people with a lower income."

Highland Park's ordinance requires 3.8 affordable units for a 24-unit building. The Wolbright development includes three affordable units on site, along with a $148,300 payment to the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund instead of including the other four-fifths of an affordable unit. Fulton Developers also agreed to donate $150,000 to the fund.

"But it doesn't address the people who leave these homes that are being demolished for better developments, and certainly we need development," Russell said.

Even lower-priced condominiums have become unaffordable for people with middle-class incomes, she said, questioning how diverse the community could be without allowing more lower-income housing and suggesting that helping the property tax base was reducing the town's diversity.

"Because now look whose going to be buying: people who can afford million-dollar plus condos," Russell said.

"I just feel bad for these people," she said of the residents of the homes now slated for demolition. "I don't know if they'd even be able to afford to buy into our newer developments in the lower-priced category."