A developer plans to submit another version of a concept plan for a residential project on the former Traughber Junior High School site in Oswego after recently getting input from the Oswego Village Board on the proposal.
On Oct. 21, the developer presented a site proposal to gauge the Village Board’s interest in the development, proposed to be called Traughber Estates.
The development is proposed for a 12.34-acre property – owned by Oswego-based School District 308 – at the northeast corner of Route 71 and Washington Street close to the village’s downtown.
The former Traughber Junior High School building on the site would be razed as part of the proposed development.
“This opportunity is an important initiative for the success of our students and our broader community,” Oswego-based School District 308 Superintendent Andalib Kheighati told the board. “The former Traughber Junior High School has not been used as an educational facility for nearly a decade.”.
District officials said the Traughber building has remained in disrepair, causing the district to invest more than $250,000 annually for maintenance and other operations, he said.
The building no longer aligns with the district’s goals to “support student learning.”
“We hope this land can serve in a purpose that benefits the village of Oswego as a whole,” Kheighati said.
JM Development – a joint venture – originally presented a proposal to the Oswego Planning and Zoning Commission about the project at the former school site. However, the commission recommended denial of the plan based on the density of housing units.
The developer modified the concept plan based on public feedback before bringing the proposal on Oct. 21 to the Village Board, which has the final say on the project.
The overall number of residential units was reduced from 239 to 202 and the number of five-story buildings proposed for the site has been reduced from two to one, Oswego Development Services Director Rod Zenner said in a report to trustees about the changes to the plan.
While trustees on Oct. 21 were supportive of fewer units, they were not receptive to the one remaining five-story building proposed for the site.
Oswego Trustee Karen Novy said she was appreciative of the increased green space and changes to the roof lines from the previous plan.
“My only issue is that I don’t like the five-story building along Route 71,” Novy said. “I don’t know if you would be willing to look at doing a couple of smaller apartment buildings to keep it within the scale of the rest of the complex.”
Representatives of the developer said they are willing to take the feedback from the Village Board and “take it to heart” and return with their “best foot forward again.”
The property on which the proposed development would be built is within the village’s downtown tax increment financing district. School District 308 has asked the village to join in a tri-party redevelopment agreement with the developer to help convey the property and to share in the distribution of TIF increment generated by the project, village officials said.
School District 308 has marketed the property over the years. Several potential buyers were interested in reuse of the site, including Resurrection Church of the Fox Valley in 2019, which has a storefront church near Fox Valley Mall in Aurora.
The church, however, determined it would be too expensive to remodel the former school on the property.
The Oswegoland Park District was not interested in the site either, village officials said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.