A year ago, the big fight over the old Nokia land in Naperville was about a data center. Now it's about townhomes, and the townhomes are winning so far.
At its Wednesday, Oct. 7 meeting, the Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-3 to recommend Pulte Home Company's Towns at Naper Commons, a 262-unit townhome community on 40.87 vacant acres at 1960 Lucent Lane. As NCTV17 reported, the property used to house some of Nokia's operations.
The City Council voted down a data center plan for the site in January after widespread public criticism. In March, a first look at housing plans was presented as an alternative.
Three kinds of townhomes
Pulte's plan includes three housing styles. One of them, flat-roof rowhomes with a modern urban look, would be a first for Naperville, based on the plans.
"The product would be uniquely designed for Naperville, and it lends itself to a much more urban site design, with defined pedestrian entrances and walks, along with landscaping that will be integrated into the streetscape," said Caitlin Csuk of the Naperville law firm Rosanova and Whitaker, Pulte's land use and zoning counsel.
Csuk said the project would fit in with nearby developments, including the similarly named Naper Commons that Pulte also oversaw, and said the units will be built "with very high quality materials." She said the plan would give the area "a complementary and cohesive use for this very important location within the (I-88) corridor."
She also made the supply argument. Csuk pointed to a housing study saying Naperville needs between 11,700 and 13,000 new homes by 2040 to meet demand and population projections.
"The problem continues to remain the lack of supply to meet the demand," Csuk said. "The only way to solve it is to provide more supply, and we're not currently on track to meet these goals."
Zoning, trees and a split vote
To build, Pulte needs the land rezoned from ORI, the city's office, research and light industry district, to R2 residential. It's also asking for several variances, including fewer parkway trees than city code calls for. The code wants one parkway tree for every 40 feet of development.
City staff weren't sold on that part. "Staff has concerns with the reduced number of parkway trees throughout the development and does not believe the petitioner's proposed landscaping plan meets the intent of the city's parkway tree requirement," Community Planner Sara Kopinski wrote in a memo.
Csuk said driveways are the main problem. "The front-loaded units is really where we have a little more trouble because we have all of these driveway aprons," she said. "On the rear-loaded units, we don't necessarily have that issue because there's just pedestrian walks." She said Pulte is working with staff and hopes to plant more trees along the north property line, next to the existing Nokia building.
Commissioners Tom Castagnoli, Derek McDaniel and Judith Heather McGowan voted no, mostly over losing commercial land.
"Eventually, we're going to wake up one day, and we're not going to have a whole lot of commercial land to develop," McDaniel said.
"We're losing an ORI property," Castagnoli said. "It seems that's all we've been doing lately is changing to residential."
Chair Whitney Robbins said she hesitated too, but backed it. "I think the plan was well done," she said. Commissioner Mark Wright said the I-88 corridor study, which called for more housing, brought him "back to the finish line of a 'yes' vote."
The recommendation comes with conditions, including that Pulte keep working with city staff on the parkway tree count. The City Council will take up the proposal at an upcoming meeting.
Why it matters for Contractors
If the City Council signs off, 262 townhomes on almost 41 acres is a big, multi-year job in Naperville. Pulte is a national production builder that relies on steady trade partners, so framers, roofers, siding and masonry crews, plumbers, electricians, HVAC installers, drywall, paint and flooring subs should be paying attention. The flat-roof rowhomes are worth a closer look: they're new to Naperville, and flat roofs bring different roofing, waterproofing and detailing work than pitched roofs do. Site contractors will have a full plate too, from streets and utilities to landscaping, whatever parkway tree count the city settles on. No general contractor or trade partners have been announced; the next step is the City Council vote.