Fewer Developer Subsidies In Elmhurst: Mayor

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst officials generally support development, but they are giving fewer subsidies to developers, the mayor said Thursday.

During his State of the City address, Mayor Scott Levin pointed to the six-story, 200-unit complex in the works by Ryan Companies at Haven Road and First Street. The City Council approved it last year.

"This is our fourth 200-plus unit building," Levin said. "I'm very proud to say that with each new public project, we've contributed less and less of the public's funds. And this one (Ryan Companies) there was no ask – I guess there was a last-minute ask – but there was no give. It is being built without public funds."

When Elmhurst Hospital moved from the north side to the far south side a few years ago, he said, that had an immediate impact on downtown businesses. Hospital staff and visitors would go downtown to shop, but now visit Oak Brook, he said.

So the residential development downtown in recent years has helped a lot, he said.

"All of the hundreds – now maybe thousand-plus people – we've brought to downtown Elmhurst feed those businesses. I walk around downtown Elmhurst, particularly in the summer. It's like walking in a resort town," Levin said. "It's a lot of fun to be down there."

Many residents oppose the larger condo buildings downtown, saying the density hurts the city's character. They also are against subsidies for developers.

Citywide, Levin said, the commercial vacancy rate is less than 2 percent.

"Sometimes people say, 'Why is everything vacant?' I don't know where that perception comes from," Levin said. "Two percent is remarkably low."

He also noted two other recent projects – an additional 50 units at Eldridge Townhomes and 34,000 more square feet in warehouse and office space at Krueger Steel.