Aldermen Back 90-Day Extension for First Street LLC

St. Charles aldermen meeting as the City Council Planning and Development Committee on Monday agreed to a 90-day construction extension for the stalled First Street Redevelopment Project’s Phase 3 between 1st Street and the Fox River.

Aldermen were presented with two versions of the revised concept plan for Phase 3, which is south of the former Manor Restaurant site and extends all the way to Illinois Street. The aldermen seemed to be in agreement that the option preserving more open space on the site had their support, although there was no formal vote on the plans.

The former Manor site is not included in the plan, because the site is owned by another developer.

Their optimism and recommendation that the City Council vote formally to approve what would be First Street LLC’s eighth construction extension for the project came shortly after the committee voted in support of easing tenant restrictions for another building further south in the development.

But for the greatest portion of Monday’s meeting, all eyes and ears were focused on the Phase 3 concept plan revisions.

“We’re very excited that we finally put together a concept that we believe we can accomplish down here on, really, the most important part of the project on 1st Street, and that’s the riverfront,” Bob Rasmussen of First Street LLC told the aldermen.

Two Versions of Plan

The plan is a radical departure from the four, six-story buildings totaling 212,000 square feet that were envisioned in 2005-06 for the area, whose center would have been occupied by a five-story parking deck.

The project ground to a halt with the arrival of the Great Recession, which included a collapse in the housing market and job losses nationwide.

Rasmussen said the new concept plan for the area calls instead for four-story buildings, cutting their square footage to just 171,000. Also, the parking deck would remain in the center of the area, but would be a simple two-story structure containing 115 stalls.

Plan A would involve construction of four structures — Buildings 1 and 2, each 11,960 square feet, would front 1st Street. Building 3, at 11,800 square feet, and Building 4, at 9,600 square feet, would overlook the Fox River, with Building 4 being further north.

Buildings 1 and 2 would have retail space on the first floors. The lower levels of Buildings 3 and 4 would include underground parking — 38 stalls in Building 3 and 10 in Building 4.

The upper levels of all four buildings would be a mix of 72 apartments and 24 condominiums, Rasmussen said.

Aldermen — and Rasmussen — appeared to favor Plan B, which eliminates Building 4 and expand the length of the parking deck while preserving open space for use by first-floor restaurants for open-air dining during the warm-weather months.

Rasmussen told aldermen that First Street LLC hopes to break ground in April 2014.

The revised concept plan for the area is just in its preliminary phase, and 1st Ward Alderman Dan Stellato, who chairs the City Council Planning and Development Committee, said publicly early on in the presentation that aldermen would be voting on the construction extension, not on the revised concept plan itself.

With the construction extension in hand, Rasmussen told aldermen that First Street LLC will be able to move forward on the architectural and engineering work that will be needed as Phase 3 moves into the formal review process.

That will included meetings with the city’s Housing Commission and then the Planning Commission. After that, it would return to the City Council Planning and Development Committee, which then would decide whether or not to recommend it for formal City Council approval.

Unrelated Action on First Street

In separate action, aldermen supported a change to the Planned Unit Development for Building 7A, 401-409 S. 1st St., which is further south.

The building’s owner petitioned the city to ease first-floor restrictions with the PUD that bar first-floor occupancy for office, business or professional and medical/dental clinic uses.

A representatives of the building’s owner told the Planning Commission last week the change would allow the landlord to rent out two units that have stood empty since the building opened. The two units, he explained to commissioners, play a role in the building’s economic viability.

The Planning Commission last week voted unanimously to recommend approval of the petition, which received a positive endorsement from aldermen on Monday and now heads to the City Council for formal action.