80.5 Acres Of Oswego Farmland Will Be Transformed Into 320 Homes: 'Polo Crossing Is Different'

OSWEGO, IL — About 80.5 acres of undeveloped farmland will be transformed into 320 homes, including townhouses and single-family houses, off of Wolf's Crossing Road, the Oswego Village Board voted Nov. 4.

All but one trustee voted in favor of the Polo Crossing development south of the intersection of Secretariat Lane and Wolf's Crossing, approving an annexation agreement and rezoning for the property. Trustee Karin McCarthy-Lange voted against the project to be built on unimproved land zoned for agricultural use.

The Drake Group, a Glenview-based developer that secured the land three years ago, plans to build 120 single-family homes and 200 townhomes and dedicate a 4-acre park site to the Oswegoland Park District. The new homes will sit south of the Churchill Club subdivision and west of the 228-acre Sonoma Trails development currently under construction to bring another 301 townhouse units, 119 cottage units and 381 single-family houses to the area.

"Polo Crossing is different," Tom Drake, president of The Drake Group, said at the meeting. "It wasn't imported from another market or cut and paste from a national template. It was designed specifically and thoughtfully for Oswego."

Of the standalone Polo Crossing houses, 86 lots would be traditional homes with a minimum of 8,400 square feet, and 34 lots would be middle market houses with a minimum of 5,400 square feet. The smaller houses would be located between the townhouses and larger properties to serve "as a transition between the two products." The townhouses will span 45 rear-loading buildings, with 10 units being duplexes.

The developer's preference for architecture at Polo Crossing includes modern and traditional farmhouses and contemporary Scandinavian styles.

"This plan supports a major policy priority in Oswego's planning documents, providing a missing middle-market housing," Drake said.

The concept for the development, at the time known as "The Drake," was first presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission and approved by the Village Board in 2023. The general layout has remained the same, except for a decrease in the number of units — then 345, comprising 219 townhouses and 126 detached houses — and the addition of small-lot single-family homes.

The proposed project includes two access points along Wolf's Crossing. To the east, the applicant suggested a full-access point that would continue Secretariat Lane south of Wolf's Crossing, and to the west, a right-in, right-out.

As part of the annexation agreement, the developer will dedicate about 4.5 acres of frontage to the village at no cost and will create a four-lane cross-section of Wolf's Crossing Road to advance the village's current timetable for widening the thoroughfare. The village will then complete two permanent north lanes for the segment.

In addition to covering land and cash donations as well as impact fees, the developer also re-engineered the site to accommodate DuPage Water Commission easements as part of the ongoing project to connect Oswego to Lake Michigan water.

"I've been a big fan of this project since the get-go," Village President Ryan Kauffman said. "I think you have a beautiful product. I think you address so many of the things that we want to see. ... You're just hitting so many of the high notes. I love it."

The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted Aug. 7 to recommend approval of the development.