Prime Company pitches 600 luxury apartments for Hoffman Estates

Chris Elsey wants to build 600 apartments in Hoffman Estates, and may have to overcome some concern with the proposed size in the northwest suburb of Chicago.

Village trustees considered The Prime Company’s plans to develop a 600-unit luxury apartment complex on the site of a former Menards home improvement store in the Barrington Square Town Center shopping area on West Higgins Road, the Daily Herald reported. While trustees seemed to be mostly in favor of the general design, some took issue with the number of units that would be included.

“The 600 units just seems like a lot for that area,” Trustee Karen Mills told the outlet. “I think it has potential, however it’s too much in my mind.”

Plans call for an 83-foot-tall building that will wrap around a 780-spot, multi-level parking structure. In addition to concerns about the number of units, some trustees also questioned if the project would be able to accommodate all of the traffic 780 vehicles would create. Prime Company owner Chris Elsey assured them it would.

Additional concerns were raised about how much of the Barrington Square parking lot the project would take up, since current tenants of the shopping center use the lot for special events as well as parking. However, the village’s planning staff said none of the tenants have a right to the part of the property included in the proposal.

The complex will have a mix of studios, one-bedroom apartments and two-bedroom units that will have rents running from $1,700 to $2,500 per month.

Village staff warned trustees that a large wave of new high-end multifamily housing proposals accounting for 2,700 residential units would soon start pouring in. The village has the capacity for many of the proposals, a study from Schaumburg-based real estate consultant Tracy Cross & Associates found.

— Victoria Pruitt