Controversial Clarendon Hills Complex Up For Vote

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – The Clarendon Hills Village Board is set to vote Monday on whether to change the zoning code to allow a four-story complex downtown.

As of Monday morning, more than 500 people have signed an online petition against the development at 104 Walker Ave.

A main argument is that the building, called Parkside Place, would be too close to Walker Elementary School.

The board meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Village Hall.

The plan was for covered parking, ground-floor retail, 15 condo units and a dozen "boutique" hotel rooms. However, at a zoning board meeting held late last month, members voted 4 to 1 to eliminate the hotel rooms and replace them with condominiums.

Now, it's up to the Village Board, including whether the complex should include hotel rooms.

Over the weekend, Clarendon Hills resident Angela Sartori, an opponent of the project, stated that the signatures on the Change.org petition have been audited to ensure they have local addresses.

"The list of petition signers include many young families with children who currently attend Walker School," she told Patch in a text message. "They are uniting to stop this oversized development, which still includes Hotel and Commercial space just 350 steps from their elementary school."

At the zoning meeting last month, petition organizer Chris Vokaty said, "I don't know how this project is respectful to the neighbors and our school. This changes and alters our neighborhood directly."

The Village Board's meeting agenda packet includes an eight-page letter from representatives of the developer – Andy Burns, Steve Blentlinger and Patrick Kinsella. They said the option with the hotel provides the "fullest alignment" with the village's goals.

The dozen hotel rooms at 65 percent occupancy – nearly 3,000 stays a year – are projected to bring $576,000 to $864,000 in new annual spending at Clarendon Hills businesses, they said.

"We understand neighboring owners may have concerns about the impact on property values," the representatives said. "Experience from comparable projects shows the opposite effect: replacing a vacant site with a high-quality, owner-occupied development enhances the neighborhood, strengthens streetscape appeal, and contributes to long-term property value stability."

In April 2024, the Village Board voted to buy the wooded land at 104 Walker Ave. for $1.4 million. The idea was to sell it to a developer for a residential-anchored complex, which officials say would result in increased property tax income for the downtown tax district.

In June, the village-owned property at 104 Walker Ave. was sold under contract for $1.8 million to Willowbrook-based Redwood Construction. This was after the village issued a request for proposals.