Controversial Elmhurst Project Gets Extension

ELMHURST, IL — A divided Elmhurst City Council on Monday approved another extension for allowing a nursing home expansion on East Lake Street. Little has been done toward beginning the project since the council approved its conditional use permit more than two years ago.

The Elmhurst Extended Care Center, 200 E. Lake St., is planning to expand its facility on land along Fremont Avenue, a residential neighborhood.

Jay McNichols, a Fremont resident whose house is next to the proposed project, urged the City Council to reject another extension and require the nursing home to go back through the process of getting a new permit. The project, he said, is inconsistent with the city's long-term comprehensive plan for development.

McNichols, who spoke to the council by phone, noted it took the home a year to apply for a building permit and that it only posted the required bond for the project Friday.

"If they build this at 30,000 square feet and everything that has changed since 2018 causes this business to fail, Elmhurst will be left with an empty building, a failed business and a conditional use that doesn't make sense in 2020," McNichols told the council, with most members connected remotely.

If Elmhurst extends the conditional use, McNichols said, it would violate its own code, meaning it would be unlikely to withstand a legal challenge. He said the recent pandemic is no excuse for the lack of progress because the nursing home had nearly two years to get the project off the ground before then.

Ward 6 Alderman Michael Honquest said the nursing home should have been further along with the project, but he would support an extension because of the "extreme situation" of the pandemic.

Ward 7 Alderman Mike Brennan said he would vote for the extension, but it would be the last time he would do so.

"I'm for this project. I hope the applicant gets financing and puts a shovel in the ground," he said.

But Ward 3 Alderman Michael Bram said he would be against it.

"There hasn't been substantial completion. There hasn't been anything. It's been the bare minimum at best," Bram said.

The vote for the extension was 9-3. The dissenters were Bram, Noel Talluto and Dannee Polomsky.

In an interview Tuesday, Love Dave, the nursing home's administrator, said the facility now has six months to break ground on the project. It plans to do so, depending on how "everything shakes out" with the coronavirus, he said.

The nursing home now has 80 beds, but is licensed for 108, Dave said. With the expansion, the home would increase to its licensed capacity, he said.

According to a letter to the city earlier this month, the nursing home said it was seeking money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the project. One of the holdups is that the city and the nursing home were still discussing the designs, so general contractors were unable to submit bids without a finalized plan.

The pandemic, the nursing home said, has caused further delays in the application process for HUD money. With the new six-month extension, the facility said it was confident that construction could begin within that time.

According to Medicare's website, Elmhurst Extended Care is rated "above average" overall. It has no coronavirus cases or related deaths, state reports say. The home is family-owned and started in 1960.