Apartment complex for low-income older adults proposed for Algonquin

A new low-income and age-restricted apartments proposed for Algonquin would include a mix of 45 one- and two-bedroom apartments, developers said.

The Algonquin Planning and Zoning Commission gave an unanimous thumbs up to the project. It will next be considered at the Village Board’s Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday evening.

If approved, the complex would be built on a vacant lot on County Line Road between Boyer Road and Millbrook Drive. Qualified residents would have to be 62 years or older and make less than 80% of the area’s median income.

One two-story building would be at the center of the plot with six one-stories buildings around a U-shaped driveway. The two-story building would have an elevator, fitness room and a community room with a kitchen.

“There’s a large need for this everywhere. Algonquin is no exception to that.”

—  Jason Shallcross, Algonquin's community development director

Pivotal Housing Partners, a real estate developer based in Ohio, is behind the proposal. In its 28 years of business, it has sold only three properties, said Wyllys Mann, its senior vice president of development.

“When we come to town, we stay in town,” Mann said. “We’re building for the property to be there for hundreds of years; we intend to own it for hundreds of years.”

Pivotal’s goal is to break ground in spring of next year and start occupying units by spring 2025. The developer plans on funding the project through the Illinois Housing Development Authority.

The developer would prioritize leasing to existing Algonquin residents, Mann said.

Currently, the Church of the Latter-day Saints owns the empty plot. Pivotal would purchase the land only after the village approves a final planned unit development for the project, Mann said.

A traffic study was conducted on the area and the new complex would have a “relatively light” impact, Algonquin senior planner Patrick Knapp said.

So far, Knapp said he has heard only positive feedback from Algonquin residents.

Jason Shallcross, Algonquin’s community development director, said the complex will be built “in the same vein” as neighboring townhomes.

“There’s a large need for this everywhere,” Shallcross said. “Algonquin is no exception to that.”