Des Plaines senior housing up for council vote

By Travis Akin

DES PLAINES – The new Blue Sky senior lifestyle project will be up for a vote before the Des Plaines City Council on Monday, September 17 and this innovative new development will help increase property values for area residents. The Des Plaines Planning and Zoning Committee has already given its ok to the project.

Demographic changes in America are demanding the need for contemporary, high-quality senior housing. Illinois is getting older as birth rates decline and people live longer. The fastest-growing age group in Illinois is people 60 to 79 but middle-class seniors lack enough housing options in the Chicago area, said developer Dan Pontarelli.

To respond to this shortage, Pontarelli and his Blue Sky development team said the project has already had many significant upgrades since last year’s first consideration before the City Council. After many meetings and discussions with members of the City Council, affected residents and city officials, here are some of the improvements:

• Reduced the height, elevation and density of the project
• Significantly added green space
• Added dense tree planting at the rear property line of nearby single-family homes.

Some residents have said the project should be owner-occupied residences instead of rentals. However, the City of Des Plaines’ planning staff supports the proposed rezoning and says that single-family residential is not likely to ever happen at this site.

“The reuse and improvement of the site is expected to increase property values of the surrounding community, especially when consider the potential for an industrial use,” the city staff report says.

A similar senior project in Morton Grove has been praised by Mayor Dan DiMaria as a very positive development in his community and has not created excessive traffic or other problems, Pontarelli said.

The project will help redevelop an unused parcel in Des Plaines and add to the overall quality of the neighborhood.

“With its many amenities, this project is really about providing a quality of life experience for your mother, my father, your uncle, my aunt, our grandparents,” Pontarelli said. “I am committed to making this a magnificent senior development for many years to come and I will remain with the project going forward.”