By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer

HOWARD – The Howard Village Board gave final approval last month to a planned development district (PDD) to construct a 142-unit apartment development at 2450 Duck Creek Parkway.

The board then directed staff to bring back a development agreement to assist with expenses for filling and removing soil there.

The project includes a 78-unit, three-story apartment building with 1,800 square feet of commercial/flex space and four, two-story apartment buildings, two with 18 units and two with 14 units.

Community Development Director Dave Wiese said the village has worked with project developer Mike Coppens and Mau & Associates over the past three to four months to put together the PDD.

“For final approval, they had two of the three buildings designed and the third building was close,” he said. “They had it just about completely finished, and then on the site plan there was some trail connections that we needed.”

Coppens, who appeared before the board, said there would be onsite apartment management.

He said he expects monthly rent for the units to range from $1,250 to $2,000.

Coppens said a tenant has yet to be determined for the 1,800 feet of commercial/flex space.

“It could be a restaurant,” he said. “It could be a multitude of things.”

Howard Village President Burt McIntyre said the project site is “an entryway into our community, and we want the aesthetics to be first class.”

“We’ve been assured that it’s going to be looking good,” he said.

Project fill

Steve Bieda of Mau & Associates, who appeared before the village’s Plan Commission Nov. 15 on behalf of Coppens, said 13 boring samples were taken at the project site, indicating some soil with material unsuitable for construction will need to be removed.

Village Administrator Paul Evert said Coppens requested tax incremental financing (TIF) assistance with soil excavation and fill costs likely to exceed $200,000, based on an estimate provided the village.

Evert said the area was used in the past as a dump site.

“We don’t think it’s, from all his soil samples, we don’t think it’s anything toxic,” he said. “But it does sound like there’s going to be a lot of unsuitable soils onsite. He was hoping the board would consider a development agreement that would allow him to recapture some of the new tax increment to help offset some of these costs.”

Evert said the property is in TIF District No. 3, which closes in January 2026, so by the time the new development begins to increase the tax base, there would be only two or three years of time to recover the assistance made available.

“It is more likely there is not enough time left in the TIF to cover all the additional fill costs,” he said.

Evert said the village might be able to provide a TIF incentive of $20,000-30,000 before the district closes, and the project realistically wouldn’t receive $217,000 as estimated for soil excavation and fill costs.

Project plan

The development plan for the 10.1-acre site, which has been known as the Sturzl property, calls for breaking ground as soon as possible and constructing the project in two phases.

The first phase includes the four smaller buildings and stormwater pond construction beginning next March.

The second phase construction on the larger mixed-use building will begin in March 2023.

The total development cost is listed in the plan at $15 million.