Pappas, Glasgow pitch luxury apartments to mixed reviews in Sycamore

SYCAMORE – Two developers pitched a plan to build 66 luxury apartments on Sycamore’s north side Monday to mixed reviews, arguing against concerns and saying their plan accounts for what they called the city’s high property taxes.

Steven Glasgow, manager of Sycamore-based Primm Prairie Commercial Development, wants to partner with DeKalb-based Pappas Development to build a three-building, 66-unit luxury apartment complex on Primm Drive on the city’s north side.

If approved, the apartments would be built at 2156, 2235 and 2264 Primm Drive in the Primm Prairie Commercial Subdivision, which has owned the land since 2006, said Glasgow, manager of Primm Prairie Commercial Development. The proposal was part of discussion at Monday’s Sycamore Planning and Zoning Commission. No vote was taken.

Sycamore resident John Mataitis said he’s opposed to the proposal since he believes it’s too close to his home.

“I’d probably be a couple hundred feet from where these buildings are at. ... Nobody wants it,” Mataitis said. “When you put an apartment building in a residential area, there goes the area.”

Glasgow argued that the way the space is zoned now, commercial businesses would sit near the residential area at any rate. He said he believes another residential complex makes more sense in the neighborhood. He’s owned the land that sits north of Jewel-Osco and west of Casey’s General Store for 18 years, with no commercial takers.

“I don’t believe anything is going to happen in these lots, commercially,” Glasgow said. “I mean that sincerely.”

“So the density we’re providing here, it’s literally the lowest we can really go and make things work because we have our financial obligations and property taxes. The property taxes in this community are outrageous to say the least. And I’m not here to argue property, but the worst, I mean, it doesn’t get any worse than Sycamore when it comes down to property taxes.”

—  John Pappas of Pappas Development

Instead, Glasgow’s plan is to ask the city in the future to approve a development agreement that would rezone the land to allow for three new apartment buildings.

Commissioner Chris Davey said he also believes vacant commercial space has struggled in Sycamore over the years.

“It’s wishful thinking for the city to say we want commercial because it’ll bring taxes in, but if it sits there for 10, 25 years and nothing’s happening, that’s where we’ve done that,” Davey said. “All along [Illinois Route] 23 was supposed to be prime commercial.”

The apartment complex would have security cameras and key fobs for residents, said John Pappas of Pappas Development. He said background checks also are conducted on all prospective residents. Rent would include all utilities, so residents write one check, Pappas said. Rent would be $1,400 for a 600-square-foot one-bedroom unit, and $1,700 for a 1,000-square-foot two-bedroom unit.

“Lifestyles have changed,” Pappas said. “Young professionals want a smaller unit, high-end unit and safety. End of story.”

Debate also ensued about the density of the proposal: Would 66 units divided between one 18-unit building with one-bedroom apartments, and two other buildings with two-bedroom apartments fit into Sycamore city code which caps density based on space? The two buildings with two-bedroom apartments would house 12 units each, according to city documents.

Under Sycamore city code, density is calculated in two ways: Acreage divided by number of units or square footage of property divided per unit. City code requires buildings that house one-bedroom units to be 3,600 square feet in total, and buildings that house two-bedroom units to be 3,800 in total. Under Glasgow and Pappas’s proposal, that stipulation is met, said Sycamore community development director John Sauter.

“So we have two definitions of density [in the city code],” said Sauter, who added he wasn’t advocating for or against the apartment proposal. “One is compliant and one is not.”

Pappas argued that the density under the proposal fits to allow developers to make the space financially viable under current property taxes and market interest rates.

“So the density we’re providing here it’s literally the lowest we can really go and make things work because we have our financial obligations and property taxes,” Pappas said. “The property taxes in this community are outrageous to say the least. And I’m not here to argue property, but the worst, I mean, it doesn’t get any worse than Sycamore when it comes down to property taxes.”

Third Ward Alderman Chuck Stowe, who also sits on the Commission, said the city doesn’t concern itself with interest rates.

“That is not how the city makes decisions on what the interest rate is, you can’t use that as an argument. Either it’s going to work, or it doesn’t work,” Stowe said. “It should either fit in with the codes that we’re talking about or it doesn’t.”

Pappas said he’s got a model that he believes works in DeKalb. He wants to emulate it in Sycamore, despite what he called greater challenges to getting business done in the city.

“There’s a demand,” Pappas said. “No question there’s a demand.”

Pappas Development has several projects underway in DeKalb, including a $7.5 million development called Johann Executive Suites that will hold 78 units at 200 S. Fourth St., where the former DeKalb City Hall stood.

Pappas also owns and developed three mixed-use luxury apartment complexes, Cornerstone DeKalb, Plaza DeKalb and Agora Tower, in downtown DeKalb. Isaac Executive Suites, 2675 on Sycamore Road in DeKalb, opened in the summer of 2021. Another pending Pappas project is Arista Residences, 1383 Barber Greene Road in DeKalb, which is meant to be a four-story, 61-unit apartment complex. Once completed, it will be Pappas’ sixth rental facility in DeKalb built since 2018.

In Sycamore, Pappas owns and renovated the former Jane Fargo Hotel, 355 W. State St. in downtown Sycamore and the salon suites at 437 W. State St., also downtown. He argued that property taxes which total in the tens of thousands for those two buildings are significant for Sycamore developments.

If the proposal moves forward, it would need to go back in front of the commission and also receive approval from the Sycamore City Council.

“We’re going to test the waters out here,” Pappas said. “You guys are a lot tougher. It’s tougher to do business in Sycamore.”