The Aurora City Council has approved preliminary plans for a new 340-unit apartment complex planned along North Orchard Road in the city. The council approved the plans on Dec. 17. The complex, proposed by national real estate developer Continental Properties, would be called Springs at Aurora and have 17 two-story apartment buildings, a clubhouse and both attached and detached garages, according to a city staff report. Of the apartment complex’s 340 units, 34 are expected to be studio apartments, 136 are expected to be one-bedroom apartments, 136 are expected to be two-bedroom and 34 are expected to be three-bedroom units. Springs at Aurora would be constructed on the currently empty land between the Home Depot at 1250 N. Orchard Road and the Holiday Inn at 2424 W. Sullivan Road, site plans show. Each of the 17 apartment buildings would hold 20 apartments, all of which would have a patio or deck and eight of which would have its own one-car garage. The complex would also have five detached garages with a total of 49 parking spaces along with 365 outdoor parking spaces and other parking spots on driveways in front of the attached garages. The 4,300-square-foot clubhouse would have its own 13 parking spaces and feature a leasing office, a 24-hour fitness center and an in-ground swimming pool, the staff report said. The clubhouse would also have Wi-Fi, a demonstration- style kitchen and an outdoor patio and grill area, according to a presentation given to the Aurora City Council Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee on Dec. 11. Other amenities included in the apartment complex would be a coffee bar, pergolas with outdoor grilling areas, courtyard walkways, a car care center, a pet wash station, pet parks and handyman services, the presentation said. The apartments are set to be between 650 and 1,400 square feet, depending on the number of bedrooms, according to the presentation. The main entrance to the apartment complex would be at an existing traffic light on Orchard Road between West Indian Trail and Sullivan Road, and a secondary entrance would be located near the Holiday Inn. Russ Whitaker, a Naperville-based attorney representing Continental Properties, said at a recent City Council Committee of the Whole meeting that Continental has built 11 of these Springs apartment complexes in the Chicago area over the past several years. What sets Springs apart from other apartment complexes is the price point, which would be “coming in at a premium” compared to others in the region, he said. The site has been owned by Meijer for at least the past 24 years, and during that time, plans to build a Meijer store and gas station on the site have been fully approved twice, the city staff report said. Instead of moving forward with that development, Meijer recently decided to sell the property instead, officials said. Along with approving preliminary plans for the Springs at Aurora apartment complex, the Aurora City Council also voted to approve the subdivision of the site into five plots, one of which will hold Springs at Aurora, and also to make changes to the roughly 500-acre USAA Planned Development District, which the site sits in, to accommodate the project. In addition to the roughly 18-acre plot where Springs at Aurora will be located, the other four plots on the site will include a site for future commercial development, an access road and two plots for stormwater management, according to the staff report. The changes to the USAA Planned Development District changed the land-use designation on the property where Springs at Aurora is set to be located from office, research, light industrial or commercial use to multi-family residential use with similar standards to the city’s existing R-5 Multi-Family Dwelling District zoning, but with some differences, the staff report said. The development will be allowed to be on a single lot with a reduced lot size and floor area ratio, but it is required to be completely owned by a single company. It also requires a certain number of parking spaces, with a certain number of those spaces to be enclosed, lowers setbacks within the development, sets higher minimum floor areas for each type of apartment, requires patios or balconies for all apartments, and requires an amenity center with a pool. The Aurora City Council voted 11-1 to approve all three items, which included the preliminary plan, the resubdivision and the change to the development district. Voting against was Ald. John Laesch, at-large, who said at the earlier Committee of the Whole meeting that the city already has enough apartments, and that he would rather see single-family homes built. Laesch said he was also against lowering the parking requirements from what is typically allowed. “I think the cost of $1,500 per a single-bedroom is probably going to encourage overcrowding in that space and is probably going to require more parking,” he said. Aurora Senior Planner Tracey Vacek said the parking was lowered because residents can also park in the driveway in front of their attached garages, which were not formally counted as parking spaces. If those were counted, it would be near the level of parking typically required by the city, she said. She also disagreed with Laesch that there are enough apartments, as did Mayor Richard Irvin. “The reality is, we wouldn’t be building this apartment development unless there is demand for it, and demand means people want to live in them,” Irvin said. Based on demographic data from other Continental apartment complexes, Springs at Aurora is also going to attract young professionals to the city, which is an important demographic to attract because they will then “move up through” other types of housing, according to Whitaker. [email protected]