Joliet delays vote on Tallgrass Estates project

Plans for a Tallgrass Estates rental townhouse development are facing resistance again at City Hall.

The Joliet City Council last week tabled a vote on the plan for 120 rental townhouses on 20.3 acres at the southeast corner of McDonough Street and the Interstate 55 Southeast Frontage Road.

Edward Mattox has been trying to develop Tallgrass Estates since 2016, when the City Council put off a vote on the project amid opposition from neighbors.

“This is a high-end community, and this is going to be high-quality rental housing,” Rod Tonelli, an engineer working on the project for Mattox, told the council.

Tonelli said monthly rent will start at $1,450.

Nine meetings with neighbors have been held, with the most recent one being this month, he said.

“Everyone seems to be in support of the project,” he told the council.

But the council voted, 8-0, to table a vote on plans for the project after council member Jan Quillman questioned whether the city has any definition in its codes for rental townhouses.

It does not, City Attorney Martin Shanahan said.

He said that the codes don’t define townhouses, either – or condominiums.

The plan when proposed in 2016 was for 156 upscale apartments.

The current plans are for eight buildings. Six buildings would have
16 units, and two buildings would have 12 units. The exteriors would be primarily brick.

Half of the units would have access to 14 proposed parking garages. Additional parking would be provided along driveway areas.

A clubhouse would be built, although not at the beginning of the project.

There are also plans for a 3.5-acre dog park to be developed through an agreement with the park district.

No neighbors appeared last week at the two council meetings in which Tallgrass Estates was on the agenda.

The city’s Plan Commission recommended approval of the plans for Tallgrass Estates at its meeting in July.

No one appeared at that public hearing to oppose the project.

In 2016, neighbors from the Timber Oaks subdivision across the street expressed concerns about the impact of rental housing on their property values and whether the project would be completed on schedule.