Second downtown Oswego apartment building given final OK

Construction can now proceed on the second apartment building at The Reserve at Hudson Crossing in downtown Oswego as a result of action taken Tuesday evening, April 20, by the village board.

The board approved the final planned unit development agreement for the $69 million development’s north building as part of its meeting consent agenda.

Trustee Luis Perez was absent from the meeting and did not vote on the motion to approve the consent agenda.

As proposed by the Shodeen Group LLC, the north building will be located on a vacant parcel bounded by Adams, Jackson and Harrison streets and the Waubonsie Creek.

Project plans call for the construction of a six-story, 104-unit apartment building with an attached parking garage with spaces for 119 vehicles on two levels with access onto Harrison and Adams streets.

In a memo to the board, Rod Zenner, the village’s development services director, noted the final plans for the building conform with previously approved preliminary plans. Those plans call for the construction of a building that includes 16 studio apartments, 43 one-bedroom apartments and 45 two-bedroom apartments.

Zenner wrote, “The building will be L-shaped as the northwest corner of the lot is subject to stormwater storage. The building will be six stories in height with the tallest portion adjacent to the [project’s] southern building. The building reduces to 4.5 stories above ground towards the north, adjacent to the [Waubonsie] creek.”

Zenner wrote that the building’s exterior will feature materials similar to the southern building, which currently is nearing completion in the block bounded by Adams, Jackson, Harrison and Washington (Route 34) streets.

In addition to a “limestone look base and siding for the upper levels,” Zenner wrote that the building will feature “brick accents at the main corner ... that will cover the side of the building and accents at the main entrance to the building.”

The Reserve, the largest mixed-use development in the village’s history, is being built on the former site of the Alexander Lumber yard, which closed in the early 2000s.

Village and Shodeen officials presided over a ribbon-cutting Feb. 25 to mark the opening of the project’s south building. The six-story building includes 10,000 square feet of commercial space for restaurants and shops fronting Washington Street on the building’s ground level and 176 apartment units on the upper floors.

The apartment portion of the building features an interior courtyard with swimming pool, lounge chairs, multiple eating areas, two gas fire pits, seating areas and grilling stations. A community lounge is accessible from the courtyard and the interior commons area on the building’s third floor and includes a fitness center, lounge area, pool table, full kitchen, bathrooms and changing area.

Apartments in The Reserve range in size from studio units to two-bedroom, two-bath units. Monthly rents range from about $1,200 for lower-level studio units to about $2,500 for the two-bedroom, two-bath units.