Elmhurst 'Biggest Boon To Villa Park'

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst's mayor this week referred to the city as a "boon" for neighboring Villa Park.

In his State of the City address on Thursday, Mayor Scott Levin said Elmhurst issued 74 permits for new homes through the first three quarters of last year.

"I did a little research myself, and you could get a home in Elmhurst for $300,000 or $3 million, so there's a lot of diversity of what's out there," Levin said. "Houses are selling in about 60 days. As I say, they are keeping their value because we are Elmhurst."

At the same time, Levin recognized housing affordability issues in Elmhurst.

"A lot of people say, 'I hope my kids will move here. They can't afford it.' We have people who want to downsize. There aren't a whole lot of ranches out there that you can downsize and pay $300,000 for," the mayor said. "I think we're going to be the biggest boon for Villa Park because that's where people wind up, being next door to Elmhurst."

According to the U.S. Census, the median-priced house in Elmhurst is $516,900, compared with $293,400 in Villa Park and $361,700 in DuPage County as a whole.

Levin reported Elmhurst's retail vacancy rate is 2 percent overall and 1 percent downtown, compared with 7.5 percent in DuPage County.

For industrial space, Elmhurst is .6 percent vacant, less than DuPage County's 5.9 percent. The local office vacancy rate is 5.6 percent, well under DuPage County's 16.3 percent, Levin said.

"The big factor is location. Just the difference from being in Elmhurst vs. Wheaton – the travel to the highway or the airport," Levin said