Journal & Topics Media Group

Rand Road Supportive Housing Facility Construction To Proceed With New Owners


After several delays, construction of the 44-unit Spruce Village supportive housing development may finally proceed after the village of Palatine signed off on ownership and operational changes, as well as changes in layout.

The village council unanimously approved all of the changes during Monday’s (Feb. 18) council meeting. Housing Opportunity Development Corporation (HODC), a Techny-based affordable housing developer, is taking over as both developer and service provider. Last year, Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) selected Spruce Village as one of the projects it will fund.

The developer is in the process of submitting all the necessary documents for review, but once that clears, HODC expects it would take 14 months to actually build. It hopes to open the facility in September 2020.

In 2015, the village agreed to sell the 1-acre lot to Chicago-based UP Development. The planned development agreement for the project was originally approved on March 7, 2016 on the vacant portion of the lot at 1980 N. Rand Road. As the Journal reported at the time, the building was geared toward people with disabilities. It would contain three floors, with 33 one-bedroom units and 11 studios. UP Development would have built the structure, with Elk Grove Village-based Kenneth Young Center, Alexian Brothers, and Volunteers of America providing services for the tenants.

A few months later, in October 2016, HODC took over as service provider. While the original agreement gave the village the right to pull out of the agreement if UP Development didn’t get the necessary financing by Sept. 30, 2016, the developer asked for several extensions. It wound up transferring its ownership interest in Spruce Village to HODC, allowing it to take over as a developer as well.

According to a Palatine staff memo, the company owns and operates “multiple other similar projects in other surrounding communities.” According to HODC’s website, that includes Arlington Heights’ Heart’s Place.

Under the original Planned Development contract, any change in ownership must be approved by the village before any construction can actually start.

HODC intends to use UP Development’s original plans and designs, with two small, but notable differences. It intends to put the building five feet further south and spruce up the north side of the building.

Richard Koenig, HODC’s executive director, told the council that securing the funding was “the main hold-up” to construction.

“All the funding is available,” he said. “Now, what we need to do is get in all the documents in place. We have actually submitted to permits to village. We’re hoping, that I’m optimistic, that we’re going to close in 60 days on financing.”

Koenig added that they hope to break ground this summer and “have occupancy” by the fall of 2020.

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