Fifty-five three-story townhomes are on their way to Naperville Crossings.
About the Development
The Planning and Zoning Commission recently approved the Lennar Homes’ project for the 5.3 acres located north of Anna Marie Lane and west of Showplace Drive.
“Typical product will be 2,200-2,400 square-foot in size. They’re all three-bedroom. And on the main level they’ve got open floor plans [and] modern living,” explained Andrew Mouw, land acquisition manager for Lennar.
The townhomes will include garages and open green space that city staff found compatible with the surrounding commercial area.
Worry about Traffic
But the townhomes would neighbor those businesses and well-travelled roads, which caused concern for some at the meeting.
Commissioner Anthony Losurdo felt the city and developers could work on that traffic issue together as the project moves forward.
“We can’t stop progress because of traffic,” said Losurdo. “Hopefully we can figure it out – how to make it a little bit better. But in my opinion, you want success, you want businesses, it’s going to bring people, we’re going to have traffic. We just got to figure it out. So I think it’s a great project.”
The Location’s History
The two lots have sat vacant for 15 years. It was rezoned this past January to an R3 – Medium Density Multiple Family Residence District, due to the site’s lack of retail appeal.
The concept for the Naperville Crossings site originally included commercial space.
Questioning Commercial Use
Commissioner Krishna Bansal questioned why that wasn’t included the development.
“I understand with R3 that’s not possible, but then staff was presenting that to us and that was never clarified at that point,” he said. “When we get rezoning requests without any kind of renderings we get into these kinds of issues. So this should be really looked into in the future because this is kind of really deceiving at this point.”
Agreement with Surrounding Area
The commission ultimately voted 7-1 in favor of the proposal. They agreed with staff about the consistency in design with the surrounding area.
The project now goes to city council for final approval.
Naperville News 17’s Christine Lena reports.