Kathy Corcos had plenty of questions.
That’s what made Saturday a fact-finding mission for her.
Corcos was one of a handful of River Forest residents who dropped by an open house Jan. 24 at the River Forest Civic Center to get a look at renderings of a proposed development of a village-owned parcel at 7620 W. Madison St.
While no agreements or approvals have been made, over the last year the village considered seven development proposals, selecting two finalists before ultimately choosing Chicago-based Five Thirty-one Partners, which submitted a plan for a five-story mixed-use building. The development would feature 72 high-end apartments and first-floor retail space, along with 87 parking spaces.
“I’m hearing frustration because there is a lack of information,” Corcos said. “We need development. We want development. But people want development that they think is going to fit into their neighborhoods.
“We all know there is this development company that they’ve hired, but they have no online presence. Nobody can look them up, Five Thirty-one. What is their track record as far as getting projects done on time, on budget. How are they funded? We don’t want another debacle like Lake and Lathrop,” said Corcos.
Roosevelt Middle SchoolA keyword search on Google for Five Thirty-one Partners revealed no website for the company, though the firm is referenced at vfr.us/Madison, the village’s Madison Street Development webpage. That page noted there would be two open houses – Saturday’s, and one at Roosevelt Middle School on Jan. 22, where village administrator Matt Walsh said about 35 residents attended. Walsh added that village trustees would be formally introduced to the project at its Jan. 26 board meeting. At that meeting Walsh also announced a third open house with developers. It will take place Feb. 5 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at village hall.
“There are a lot of steps and a lot of opportunities for public feedback,” Walsh said. “There are several points where notices are sent out to neighbors to invite them to public hearings, including the development review board and then the village board. There is an additional neighbor meeting which is hosted by the developer.”
Present Saturday while residents meandered with clipboards with feedback forms were Five Thirty-one co-owners Viktor Jakovljevic and Chuck Westphal. Jakovljevic is listed as the founder and principal for V3 Development Group, a Chicago firm. Walsh confirmed Five Thirty-one Partners does not have a website.
“We think this a great opportunity for the village and for the residents of River Forest, to bring a new product, a quality product, to the neighborhood,” Jakovljevic said.
“We are custom builders, so basically everything we build is between four and five stories, custom rental properties, but high-end. We put a lot of effort and design and investment into a finished product. We think this project will absorb all sorts of different levels of tenancy in River Forest.”
Added Westphal: “It’s a structure that fits with River Forest, so we tried to design something that was more classic than modern, and we focused on quality in the units. We are really putting the money in the units.”
The key questions from the Jan. 22 open house revolved around traffic and parking, he said, along with unit pricing.
“We had some immediate neighbors that were concerned about shadowing, the proximity to their particular property and whether there would be a shadow cast, and what time of year there might be a shadow,” Westphal said.
“We’re roughly 70 feet from the nearest property line,” he said. “The north side of this building, the residences are roughly 70 feet from the nearest property line, which is quite a distance. It shouldn’t be an issue. The closest it will come to shadowing will be in the dead of winter, the winter solstice, when the sun is lowest in the south.”
As far as traffic, Westphal said there is access to parking from the north, the west and east.
Residents like Tim Divis tended to spend plenty of time with the renderings and speaking with village personnel like Walsh, along with Jakovljevic and Westphal.
“In terms of the size and the nature of the building (it) is consistent with what’s on the other side of Madison, in Forest Park,” he said. “There is always the issue of the height. That’s always going to be an issue. In trying to build something that’s going to be viable, you probably do need the height.”
What about traffic? Any concerns for Divis?
“No,” he said. “Madison Street is a busy place. It’s just the nature of the beast.”
Sheba Chiplunkar lives two blocks north of Madison Street, on Ashland.
“I would like to see something built there for sure, I’m excited,” she said. “Finally, we have more designs. We need more property tax coming in, for sure.”
Still, Corcos said many questions are being asked on social media channels in particular. One of them appeared on a Facebook page titled River Forest Neighbors and said, “The proposed development at Madison and Ashland has 72 units. On other Five Thirty-one projects with larger footprints (more land) they have done 32-40 units. Why such density here? Too much for the space.”
“I was pleased to be able to walk around the room, look at drawings, renderings, and ask questions of village staff and the builders,” Corcos said Monday. “I liked most of the answers I got. I’m not crazy about the height of the building – five floors high. The builder set it as six floors but agreed to bring it down to five. That is still very tall for our area.”
But she also added, “Is this company and its principals in any way connected personally or professionally with the (River Forest) board, or past board of trustees or staff?”
CUTLINE
River Forest resident Sheba Chiplunkar points out a feature Saturday on a rendering of a proposed development of a village-owned parcel at 7620 W. Madison St.
