Oswego gives go ahead for hundreds of more homes in Hudson Pointe

The Oswego Village Board has given the green light to a plan to build more than 200 single-family houses and townhouse units as part of the second phase of the Hudson Pointe development in Oswego.

At their July 16 meeting, the majority of village board trustees recommended approval of plans for the project, planned for 81.1 acres on the east side of Harvey Road, generally south of Wolfs Crossing Road. Village Trustee Kit Kuhrt, who in January voted against the 801-unit Sonoma Trails subdivision because he didn’t like the project’s density, voted “present.”

Village Trustee Karin McCarthy-Lange also voiced concerns about the project, but she voted to approve the plans along with annexing the property.

“We’ve been hearing from our plan commission about density,” she said. “I think we really need to take that in account.”

The land, which currently is used for agriculture and is unincorporated, is immediately south of the existing phase of Hudson Pointe. Lennar plans to build 144 single-family houses and 87 townhouse units as part of Hudson Pointe II.

Hudson Pointe Phase I is composed of 146 single-family houses and an apartment community called Emblem composed of about 300 apartments.

“Hudson Pointe is Lennar’s most successful and popular subdivision currently that we’re marketing in the Chicagoland area,” Lennar representative John McFarland said in addressing the Village Board. “So we’re pleased to be able to have the chance to continue with that.”

The lot sizes for the single-family homes would range in size from 8,250 square feet to 9,300 square feet. The 87 townhouse units would be spread across 19 buildings with each building containing four to five units.

A three-acre park would be located in the northeast corner of property, which will be dedicated to the Oswegoland Park District. The park would be located adjacent to a three-acre dedicated park site in Hudson Pointe Phase I.

Village planner Rachel Riemenschneider said the proposed use and proposed density – 2.85 units per acre – is consistent with the village’s Comprehensive Plan. Homes in Phase 2 are expected to sell between $390,000 and $530,000, McFarland has said.

At a meeting in February, planning and zoning commission chairman Charlie Pajor asked him why he thought townhouses were an important part of the project.

“Why townhomes as opposed to additional detached single-family?” Pajor asked.

McFarland responded that doing so broadens the housing market.

“These aren’t small townhomes,” he said. “These townhomes are 1,700 to 2,000 square feet. They have two-car garages, three bedrooms and two baths. It just provides a niche for that person that doesn’t want to rent a walk-up apartment but maybe can’t quite yet afford a single-family home but wants to be a homeowner.”

The townhouses would not be offered for rent. However, an owner could decide to rent out a townhouse.

The proposed development is adjacent to the future Wikaduke Trail, the planned north-south roadway connecting Will, Kane, DuPage and Kendall counties.

“While the proposed development has been designed with this future roadway in mind, this section of the Wikaduke Trail would not be constructed as part of this development,” Riemenschneider said.

However, she said Lennar will dedicate the necessary right-of-way for the Wikaduke Trail, which will represent the first Wikaduke Trail right-of-way dedication in Oswego.