St. Charles Planning and Development Committee to review revised apartment complex plans

The St. Charles City Council’s Planning and Development Committee in the coming weeks is set to review plans for a proposed apartment building near the Fox River in St. Charles that has been scaled back after neighbors had voiced concerns about the building’s height.

Alderpersons had been expected to review the plans at Monday’s Planning and Development Committee meeting. However, the developer requested they set up another meeting for discussion to take place. A meeting date has not yet been set.

Newly revised plans for the River East Lofts project call for reducing the building from five stories to four stories. The project is proposed to be built at the southeast corner of Illinois and Riverside avenues on the site of the former St. Charles Chamber of Commerce building.

Previous plans had called for the building to be 59 feet, 8 inches tall. The zoning district for the area only allows for a maximum building height of 50 feet.

The current plans show the building would be a maximum of 50 feet tall, so the developer is no longer requesting a variance from the city. The apartments would be located on the building’s upper floors while commercial and retail space would be on the first floor.

In addition, the number of units has been reduced from 43 to 42 and the unit mix has changed from 27 one-bedroom/16 two-bedroom units to 12 one-bedroom/30 two-bedroom units. Revised architectural plans have been submitted.

Other changes include reorientation of the building to follow Riverside Avenue, removal of the BMO ATM and increasing the number of parking spaces from 53 to 60 – 36 spaces in the private parking lot and 24 spaces along 2nd Ave.

Plan commissioners last month unanimously recommended approval of the revised plans, with one commissioner abstaining because of a conflict. Developer Curt Hurst and his son Conrad own Frontier Development, which has been involved in several projects in downtown St. Charles.