The DuPage Water Commission’s planned sale of a 32.47-acre piece of surplus property to a local residential developer was a topic of discussion at a recent DuPage County Board meeting.
The board used the “new business” portion of the Tuesday, July 8 meeting agenda to discuss the commission’s proposed $14 million sale of undeveloped land it owns along 75th Street, approximately 1 mile west of Route 53.
The DuPage Water Commission on Thursday, June 19 adopted a resolution that set the stage for a purchase and sales agreement with Pulte Home Co. The land is in unincorporated DuPage County and could potentially be annexed into Naperville or Woodridge; it also could remain under the county’s oversight.
County Board members want a say in development plans
Several members of the County Board — including Chair Deborah Conroy — said they only recently became aware of the water commission’s planned sale of the land.
“For the record, I was unaware of this, until it was in the newspaper,” Conroy said, referring to a Wednesday, July 2 article in The Daily Herald. “This would be exactly what we have been looking for, in terms of ‘missing middle,’ in particular. I’m hopeful that this is not a completely missed opportunity.”
Board member Mary Fitzgerald Ozog, who represents District 4, began the discussion of the commission’s transaction at the recent meeting. She inquired if the county had ever been approached.
“My issue with this is that I would like to know of the water commission, if the county was ever approached, because all of us are members of the ad-hoc affordable housing committee,” Ozog said.
During the discussion, Ozog later stated, “This is public land, and I think it’s important that a discussion be held that at least some portion of this housing development on one the few undeveloped tracts of land … should be affordable.”
County Board member also helms the Water Commission
James Zay, who is a District 6 representative on the County Board, also serves as the DuPage Water Commission’s chairman. Zay said the commission early this year deemed the land surplus property.
“We have been holding onto this property for 40 years,” Zay said in explaining the commission’s position on the matter. “It’s expensive. There’s no future use for the DuPage Water Commission to use it. It costs us a considerable amount of money to maintain it.”
Zay also addressed the surprise several of his elected colleagues shared with regard to the land sale.
“We are a transparent organization,” Zay said. “We have our meetings every month. This was on the agenda; this was published, out to bid for this property.”
The property reportedly has an appraised value of $10.8 million.
No firm details on Pulte’s plans for property
Pulte remains in a due diligence phase, and company representatives have not commented on their specific plans for the property. Zoning-related issues could ultimately determine when a sale would be finalized.
Zay indicated the DuPage Water Commission cannot dictate what type of housing is developed on the land. Conroy, however, said she and her staff are working vigorously to have a meeting with Pulte to discuss the county’s perspective.
“To be honest, this property could potentially give us exactly what we’re looking for if we have the right builder who is willing to work with us,” Conroy said.
Affordable housing, Conroy added, has been in short supply all across DuPage County.
“You can’t buy a home that is three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath, for under a half of a million dollars in DuPage County,” she said. “That’s a problem, because we want our firefighters, our teachers — we want them to work here, and live here.”
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