Heart’s Place

On two adjoined Arlington Heights lots which had sat vacant in the center of a mixed-use district for several years, Housing Opportunity Development Corporation (HODC) and Daveri Development (now UP Development) originally conceived of Boeger Place Apartments (as it was then called) as a 3-story, 30-unit permanent supportive housing development for people living with mental illness, and applied for Village approval in 2010. The proposal was met with significant community opposition and was denied by a 4-3 Village Board decision on account of the building’s density and the large number of zoning variations required. The rejected proposal then became the subject of a legal suit when Daveri brought charges of discrimination against the Village, which were ultimately dismissed in 2012.

Seven years later, putting past grievances behind, HODC and UP returned to the Village Board with a modified proposal. The scaled-down proposal called for a 2-story, 18-unit permanent supportive housing development for people living with any disability; which still required re-zoning, a plat re-subdivision, an amendment to the Village’s comprehensive plan, and six zoning variations. More well-received this time around, the proposal passed through reviews with the Village Board, Plan Commission, Housing Commission, Design Commission, and one neighborhood meeting. Bolstering the proposal was a market study that the development team commissioned from St-Louis based economic consultancy Development Strategies, which found that within a five-mile radius of the site-proposal, there was a demand for approximately 973 permanent supportive housing units for individuals living with a disability, and that 75% of units in Heart’s Place would likely be occupied by individuals already living in Arlington Heights, which ultimately proved true.

Finding the proposal to be both compliant with the Village’s consolidated plan and in-line with the goals of the comprehensive plan and Village goals related to affordable housing, the proposal was recommended for approval by the Housing Commission and Staff Development Committee. Community support for the proposal had also grown since 2010, with many residents at the public meeting voicing their strong support and sharing personal experiences that demonstrated the need for affordable housing for people living with disabilities. Village Trustees unanimously approved the proposal in June 2017, ground was broken in Summer 2018, and doors opened in late 2019.

The final product, delivered by McShane Construction, is a beautiful 18,800 square foot building featuring ten 1-bedroom and eight 2-bedroom apartments that are all accessible and fully furnished. All Heart’s Place residents are offered individually tailored, on-site, professional support services provided through a network of community-based providers coordinated by HODC, including Kenneth Young Center, Thresholds, and Catholic Charities. The range of support services provided to residents are designed to help maintain their independence, including personalized case management, life and parenting skills, and employment support.

Heart’s Place has now been open for five years and has proven itself a meaningful contribution to both the residents of the building and the village of Arlington Heights.