296-unit apartment complex in Hoffman Estates gets green light from village board

Hoffman Estates village board members have granted unanimous final approval to an eight-building, 296-unit apartment complex on 13 acres at the southeast corner of Higgins Road and Moon Lake Boulevard.

Seasons at Hoffman Estates is the name of the complex where apartment buildings, a clubhouse and a pool would wrap around an existing five-story office building called Poplar Creek Office Plaza just east of the St. Alexius Medical Center campus.

The village’s Planning and Zoning Commission previously recommended approval with a 9-1 vote, with the dissenter expressing concern about the lack of an elevator to serve third-floor residents, Chair Eva Combs said.

Village Trustee Gary Stanton said he, too, would have preferred an elevator, but voted in favor of the proposal along with his colleagues.

Another question that accompanied preliminary approval back in February was the sufficiency of the proposed 490 parking spaces on the site. But Combs said the current plan includes sharing of parking spaces with the neighboring office building.

The first- and second-floor units will have a direct, private access, while apartments on the third floor will be served by a common corridor.

Last winter, a representative of Milwaukee-based Fiduciary Real Estate Development Inc. told the village board that elevators would generate ongoing higher costs and that the third floors in particular are aimed toward a younger clientele at a lower price point.

“So from a marketability standpoint, we are comfortable with the third floor being accessed without an elevator,” Fiduciary’s Vice President of Development Tony DeRosa said at the time.

The parking plan includes six to eight garage spaces for each building.

Other planned amenities include a 5,000-square-foot clubhouse, a resort-style swimming pool, a 24-hour fitness center, and a club room with a kitchen for entertaining.