A public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, January 21, 2026, regarding the proposed assisted housing complex at the old quarry site on Route 25 in Batavia. While assisted housing projects often get controversial quickly, this specific proposal includes a few distinct features:
- It utilizes a mixed-income strategy rather than focusing exclusively on extremely low-income housing.
- It activates a long-vacant, difficult site that previous developers have declined to develop on as it’s an old rock quarry.
- Preliminary renderings suggest a high-quality design similar to the developer’s previous work found here: https://haelgin.org/development.
Additionally, this project will pay property taxes and is not excluded as we’ve seen with other, similar, projects. Potential issues with traffic have not been addressed.
Project Overview: Residences at River Pointe
- Proposal: Construction of a single four-story residential building on a former stone quarry site.
- Location: 400 South River Street, Batavia, IL.
- Developer: Fox River Affordable Housing (nonprofit entity of the Housing Authority of Elgin).
- Total Units: 72 units of workforce housing.
Income Levels & Unit Breakdown
The development is structured to serve households at various income levels relative to the Area Median Income (AMI) for the region (Chicago-Naperville-Joliet MSA/Kane County). The 72 units are proposed to be divided as follows:
- Extremely Low Income (30% AMI):
- Number of Units: 18 units (approx. 25% of total)
- Requirement: Reserved for households earning at or below 30% of the Area Median Income.
- Low Income (60% AMI):
- Number of Units: 38 units (approx. 53% of total)
- Requirement: Reserved for households earning at or below 60% of the Area Median Income.
- Workforce/Moderate Income (80% AMI):
- Number of Units: 16 units (approx. 22% of total)
- Requirement: Available to households earning at or below 80% of the Area Median Income.
Public Hearing Details
- Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026
- Time: 7:00 p.m.
- Venue: City Council Chambers, 100 N. Island Ave, Batavia, IL.
- Meeting Body: Joint meeting of the Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals.
- Purpose: To review the Comprehensive Plan Amendment, Zoning Map Amendment (from Light Industrial to Multi-Family High Density), and specific Design Variances (e.g., reducing landscape buffers and waiving upper-story step-back requirements).
Financial Framework
- Total Estimated Cost: ~$23–24 million.
- Funding Sources:
- Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC)
- Private equity and conventional financing
- City Contribution: The City Council has preliminarily supported up to $1.2 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) assistance to aid in land acquisition and site preparation.
Public Participation
- Comments: Can be submitted via email to the Planning and Zoning Officer (Drew Rackow) prior to the meeting to be entered into the record (drackow@bataviail.gov).
- Documents: Full architectural plans, engineering reports, and traffic studies are available on the city’s official webpage for public review.
https://www.bataviail.gov/o/ed/page/400-south-river-street-public-hearing-information
Author: Jim Fahrenbach
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