More Than 500 Housing Units Proposed For Former Solo Cup Site

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — A developer presented preliminary plans for more than 500 units of housing on the site of the former Solo Cup facility to the Highland Park Plan and Design Commission Tuesday. Representatives of Northfield-based Interforum Holdings said they would be working with the city and residents as the planned unit development process progresses, and the plan has already been revised to increase the amount of open space.

The 28-acre property at 1660 and 1700 Old Deerfield Road, located between Route 41 and Ridge Road, has been vacant since 2009 after the Solo Cup Company moved its headquarters to Lake Forest and its factory out of state.

The proposal includes 131 townhouses and a four-story "wrap style" apartment building with 400 rental units. It would include an interior parking garage with with one floor serving each floor of apartments. An earlier version of the plan also included 12 carriage homes.

As part of the revisions, the amount of open space on the property will increase from 16 percent, below the requirement of 20 percent under the zoning code, to closer to 25 percent.

According to Senior Planner Andy Cross, the site comprises about 16 percent of Highland Park's industrial zoned property. It was converted to industrial use in 1965 with a restrictive covenant requiring buffer zones.

In a memo to the plan commission, Cross said the residential redevelopment of the property offers a chance to create a unique and innovative development. But city staff expressed concerns about the potential loss of about 100 trees in the buffer areas that have matured over the past 50 years.

The property is located within the 129-acre Briergate tax increment financing district, which was established last year and will last for 23 years. Any tax revenue generated from increases to property values in the area will be devoted to a TIF fund and used for improvements in the area.

Cal Bernstein, representing for the developers, said nearby businesses, including a "very sick mall" would benefit greatly from hundreds of new residents.

"This whole area is in play," Bernstein said. "Not only the Solo Cup site but the entire Briergate area as it extends north to the Jewel is begging for redevelopment."

Read more from the Oct. 2 meeting of the Highland Park Plan and Design Commission