A 100,000-square-foot office building at 1200 E. Diehl Road that once functioned as DeVry University’s headquarters will soon be replaced with a mixed-use project that will intermingle commercial and residential buildings.
Chicago-based Hines Acquisitions is the contract purchaser of the property. The firm plans to raze the existing 1980s-era DeVry building on the 9.5-acre parcel and build in its place two commercial buildings, totaling 15,000 square feet, and a 5-story, 306-unit multifamily housing building.
Existing building deemed obsolete
Russell Whitaker with the law firm of Rosanova and Whitaker in Naperville has been representing Hines on the new development, which has been dubbed 1200 Diehl Road Residences. Whitaker addressed the city council at its Tuesday, Nov. 5 meeting, where a series of unanimous votes in support of the project occurred.
“The two-story (DeVry) building comprises 100,000 square feet, with very large 50,000-square-foot floor plates and a lack of windows around the perimeter of the building,” Whitaker said. The existing building configuration, he added, “makes the property unattractive and, frankly, uncompetitive in a market for any type of reinvestment or adaptive reuse.”
In his pitch for the project to city officials, Whitaker pointed out Naperville’s comprehensive plan deems the surrounding area as a mixed-use corridor that is intended to have a variety of commercial, office, and residential uses.
A sampling of other mixed-use projects in close proximity to the Diehl Road property include Freedom Commons and Freedom Plaza to the north, office structures to the east and west and the Iroquois Club Apartments to the southwest and southeast.
“If you look at the existing built environment, I think you can see a clear trend toward this type of mixed-use regional center,” Whitaker said.
What the new project will entail
As proposed, 1200 Diehl Road Residences will feature an urbanized layout with pedestrian-friendly features and a close synergy between the commercial and residential components of the project. The two commercial buildings will face Diehl Road, while the residential building will be situated to the south.
“We very much believe that these uses will function as a single cohesive mixed-use community in a unique urban framework that is otherwise uncommon in the City of Naperville,” Whitaker said.
Nearly two-thirds of the housing will be studio or one-bedroom units; the balance will feature two bedrooms. Amenities will include courtyard gathering space, pedestrian walkways, trail access, a pool and hot tub, an outdoor kitchen area, and a dog park.
“This is something that’s been in the works for a year,” Whitaker said. “We were looking at a project like this in Naperville and looked at a couple of different sites, ultimately landing on this property.”
Council gives project high marks
Councilman Nate Wilson said he believed the new development would breathe new life into a dormant property.
“From my perspective, I’m excited about the project,” Wilson said. “It adds supply to the market, helping keep the prices down. From my perspective, it obviously helps meet demand. I’m fully in support.”
The council cast three unanimous “yes” votes on separate agenda items as a show of support for the project. The property is being rezoned from its current office, research, and light industry district designation to office, commercial, and industrial.
Additionally, the council adopted an ordinance approving the project’s preliminary plat and approved the issuance of a conditional-use permit that outlines many of the development’s specific components.
With the council’s seal of approval in place, Hines representatives will begin assembling architectural renderings and engineering design plans, which will be presented to city officials in the months ahead.
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