ETI Blog

Villa Park has broken ground on 238 apartments. Highwood just approved 93 more. Fox River Grove is next in line. Each started with a downtown lot the village controlled

Marquette Companies broke ground in February on The Union, a seven-story, 238-unit apartment building in downtown Villa Park. The Daily Herald described it as one of the first apartment developments to break ground in the Chicago suburbs this year. The developer also said that if interest rates and construction pricing came down, a lot more projects would move forward.

That raises a fair question. If rates and costs are stopping so many projects, why is this one under construction? Part of the answer is on the title page of the deal. The site was a vacant parking lot the village already controlled.

Villa Park: A Village Lot and a Redevelopment Agreement

The Union sits on a vacant parking lot at South Villa Avenue, in the village's historic downtown. On February 10, 2025, the Villa Park Village Board unanimously approved a redevelopment agreement with Marquette that includes $13 million in financial support through tax increment financing bonds, according to Marquette's announcement. The building also includes about 7,500 square feet of commercial space and a 94-space indoor public parking deck that will serve the nearby recreation center, Cortesi Park, and the business district.

The money followed. Associated Bank issued a $55 million construction loan, and The Real Deal reported that the project is expected to cost about $90 million, with MetLife as an equity partner. Leasing is slated to begin in fall 2027. Marquette's president, Trevor Ryan, told the Daily Herald that the village had control of the land, which gave it a lot of power in shaping what got built.

Highwood: Five Lots, One Decade of Planning

Highwood's city council approved The Modena on June 2 by a 4-2 vote, with one abstention. The $32 million project is a six-story building with 93 apartments, 101 parking spaces, and 3,161 square feet of ground-floor retail on five lots in the 400 block of Sheridan Road, inside the city's TIF district. The city sold the lots to the development team for $2.75 million. Three were vacant and two were parking lots.

A city statement said Highwood bought the first of the five parcels in 2021 and issued a request for proposals in 2024, and described the project as the result of more than a decade of planning that traces back to its 2013 comprehensive plan. The team of Highwood Redevelopment Associates, Zeller Real Estate, Harlem Irving Companies, and Hamilton Partners plans to break ground in 2027, with first occupancy in mid-2028. The mayor confirmed there will be no affordable units in the building, and two council members voted against it.

Fox River Grove: A Bare Block, Waiting

Fox River Grove shows the other side of the pattern. The village demolished older buildings on a two-acre downtown block known as Block B, and the lot has been grassy and vacant since 2024. Village Administrator Derek Soderholm told the Daily Herald that the village had sought a development for the site for more than 10 years, and that an agreement with an earlier developer with a similar plan fell apart in 2024.

A new team, Harlem Irving Companies, Hamilton Partners, and Zeller, the same trio behind The Modena, has proposed a five-story building with about 97 apartments and 6,000 square feet of commercial space. The village created a downtown TIF district in February. Planning and zoning commissioners unanimously recommended the plan in April, and the village board could vote as early as April 21. I could not confirm the outcome of that vote.

The plan asks for fewer parking spaces than village code requires: 170 instead of 185 to 215. The Daily Herald reported that new state legislation set to take effect June 1 would prohibit parking minimums for housing within a half mile of a transit hub, which includes the Metra station across the street.

The Exception That Proves the Pattern

Not every downtown project starts on public land. Moyer Properties is building a six-story, 105-unit building on the site of the former Nite N' Gale restaurant, also in Highwood, and it bought the property from the Fiocchi family, which had run the restaurant since 1947. Greg Moyer told The Record that it took conversations with three different brokers over four to five years before a deal came together. The restaurant closed on September 28, 2025.

The private route works, but it can take years and depends on a willing seller. When a village already owns the land, that step is gone, and the village is also a motivated partner.

What the Pattern Does and Does Not Prove

These three projects are not a statistical sample. Villa Park, Highwood, and Fox River Grove all used tax increment financing, public parking, or both, and the developers involved are established teams. Village ownership also did not rescue Fox River Grove's first deal. What the cases do show is that suburbs want downtown housing, are willing to put land and incentives behind it, and are producing projects at a time when large financing deals have been scarce.

They also show how long these projects take. Highwood's first lot was bought in 2021 and first occupancy is expected in 2028. Villa Park's agreement was approved in February 2025, groundbreaking came a year later, and leasing begins in fall 2027.

What It Means for Owners and Smaller Builders

These are large mid-rise buildings by experienced teams, not the smaller multifamily and mixed-use projects that many owners and boutique developers are weighing. But the same logic scales down. A village that wants downtown housing, owns or can assemble a parcel, and has a TIF district is a better counterparty than one that does not. It is reasonable to ask a village whether it owns any small downtown parcels or has a redevelopment priority list, and what incentives it has used before.

For construction, public-land deals bring their own scope: public parking decks, phased work, and sites that are often former parking lots or demolished buildings. Pricing that work early, before a request for proposals or an incentive negotiation, gives everyone a more honest number.

Looking at a Downtown Mixed-Use Site?

Whether a downtown parcel is village-owned or privately held, the first useful step is an honest look at what it will cost to build and how long the work will take.

If you are evaluating a mixed-use or multifamily site in Chicago or the suburbs, we would be glad to walk it with you.

If you are evaluating a downtown mixed-use or multifamily site, walk it with us. Request a walk