Elmhurst Apartment Vacancies? Few Downtown, Mayor Says

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst Mayor Scott Levin said Monday that vacancies downtown were low, despite what people say online.

"It's remarkable that sometimes people believe that we have a high vacancy rate downtown when it's really quite minimal," Levin said at a City Council meeting. "Our space is really much in demand."

Last week, Patch reported that the 200-unit Vyne on Haven, which opened in early April, is about 40 percent occupied.

"I've seen on social media stories about how the Vyne is under-leased," the mayor said. "It's really ahead of the game of where it's supposed to be. This is our fourth close-to-200-unit rental space that is in demand. That really supports our downtown businesses."

Levin was responding to a presentation from Heather Bereckis, the city's business development manager.

She reported Vyne on Haven is 30 percent occupied, basing the statistic on pre-leases. The owners, she said, have told her they expect to be 57 percent occupied in three months and 80 percent in six months.

"Industrial professionals would tell you that leasing an entire space within 12 to 18 months is ideal, so they're ahead of the curve right now," Bereckis said.

The other major apartment downtown complexes are mostly occupied – 98 percent at the 200-unit Fynn, 96 percent at the 192-unit Elmhurst 255 and 95 percent at the 165-unit The Marke, Bereckis said.

The numbers show that Vyne on Haven is not "cannibalizing" the other large rental spaces, she said.

Vyne on Haven has not returned messages for comment.

Mayor Levin supports apartment and condo developments downtown, saying they benefit the local economy. He expressed his views on the subject in a recent city mailer to residents.

Opponents contend the big housing complexes are changing the character of the community and making downtown traffic more problematic.

Overall, Elmhurst's vacancy rates are low. For retail, 2 percent of the space is vacant, compared with 6 percent in DuPage County, according to the city's numbers. Downtown's retail vacancy rate is also 2 percent.

Elmhurst's office vacancy rate is 7 percent, compared with 16 percent countywide, the city said.

Meanwhile, 1 percent of local industrial space is vacant, lower than the county's 4 percent