Affordable Housing Recommendation Made For 5th Avenue Project

NAPERVILLE, IL -- As plans for Naperville's 5th Avenue redevelopment project continue, an advisory board has unanimously recommended that the project include 20 percent affordable housing. The city's Housing Advisory Committed voted 6-0 to support the affordable housing in late February in the hopes that it will help increase Naperville's affordability.

According to the committee's recommendation, fewer than 8 percent of the city's roughly 50,000 homes are classified as affordable, but Illinois state law requires a minimum of 10 percent affordable housing.

The committee also touched on Naperville's relationship with the Illinois Housing Development Association (IHDA), which has help helped fund developments in Brookdale Village, Ogden Manor, and and Olympus Permanent Supportive Housing.

The city is also required to submit a plan to IHDA by June 2020 regarding its efforts to increase housing affordability. According to Naperville's Housing Committee, the city did not submit such a plan the last time it was requested in 2015.

The committee added that, "Tax credits, grants, incentives, covenants, and other financial assistance exist and should be pursued."

Naperville's 5th Avenue redevelopment plan is still in the earlier phases of concept creation. The large-scale project could revamp may properties near the city's 5th Avenue Metra station, including the Burlington, Parkview, and Kroehler lots and DuPage Children's Museum.

One concept includes potentially relocating the DuPage Children's Museum, in idea that a group is currently workshopping to assess its viability.

In order for the affordable housing recommendations to move forward, they must be approved by the Naperville City Council. Currently, no decision-making meetings for the 5th Avenue Redevelopment project are on the immediate schedule for the Naperville City Council.

Addressing the housing recommendation as a positive asset for the city, the housing advisory committee said, "The decision is within the city leaders’ control giving Naperville an opportunity to maintain is ability to win designation as a top city to live and raise a family."