Oswego Village Board gives green light for Orchard Road apartment-home project

The Oswego Village Board took steps this week to clear the way for the start-up of construction of 143 apartment-homes at the southeast corner of Orchard and Mill roads on the village’s west side.

Board members approved the final plat of subdivision for the Redwood apartment-home development as part of their consent agenda during a meeting Monday evening, Nov. 15.

The board approved concept plans in October of 2020 and a preliminary and final planned unit development agreement for the project in May. Village staff has also approved engineering plans for the project.

As proposed by Redwood, USA, the Redwood apartment-homes will be built on a now vacant 25 acre parcel at the southeast corner of the intersection.

Though not-age restricted, the attached apartment-homes will be single story and designed to appeal to older individuals and empty nesters.

In a memo to the board earlier this year, Natalie Zine, a village planner, noted that the project would address a recommendation in the village’s comprehensive plan in support of more housing options for older individuals.

“The comprehensive plan identifies a need to serve the village’s aging population, who increasingly wish to unburden themselves from aspects of single-family home ownership that no longer fit their lifestyles,” Zine wrote, adding, “This demographic shift will drive a demand for a greater diversity of housing products to serve the market. Redwood neighborhoods are not age restricted. Instead, they are built in a way that is designed to be attractive to people looking to age in place.”

The planned amenities for older residents in the apartment-homes will include lever handles, the ability to install grab bars in baths, and homes that have zero entry from the attached garage to the kitchen, Zine noted.

According to the Redwood USA’s website, the firm has developed similar apartment-home complexes near metropolitan areas in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa and in North and South Carolina.