Construction of an apartment complex in Flossmoor for developmentally disabled adults is expected to begin early next year.
Tim Knapp, executive director of New Star Services, said Monday he expects the Illinois Housing Development Authority will release funds for the apartments in early December.
dwellings being developed
by New Star Services on
Leavitt Avenue in Flossmoor.
(Provided image)
After that, construction of the apartments at 1032 and 1038 Leavitt Avenue will start “as soon as the weather permits,” Knapp told the Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle. Construction of the six apartments is likely to take eight to 10 months, he said.
At their Nov. 21 meeting, Flossmoor village board members approved a sewer line that runs from the proposed New Star apartment complex to a catch basin at Leavitt Park, just to the north. The line then will connect with the existing storm sewer along Leavitt Avenue.
New Star and the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District agreed to the project, according to a memo to the board from Scott Bugner, the village’s inspectional services administrator.
New Star Leavitt LLC will be solely responsible for the installation, maintenance, repair and replacement of the new sewer line segment, Bugner said.
Knapp said the new storm sewer segment will be about 10 feet long, adding that the Illinois Housing Development Authority wants all issues involving easements to be settled before the release of the funds for the apartments.
In May, village board members unanimously approved the apartments by passing an ordinance authorizing a planned unit development and allowing necessary permits to be issued for the complex.
The apartments were originally proposed by New Hope Services, an organization that has been providing services to people with developmental disabilities since 1960.
The apartments will be managed by New Star Services, an outgrowth of two organizations for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities — New Hope and SouthSTAR Services — that merged in July.
When completed, the apartments will be the first of their kind in Illinois.
The apartments will be designed so that developmentally disabled people can live independently and receive a minimum of services from New Star. Knapp has said he expects tenants will be people between 22 and 35 who are high school graduates and have jobs.
With a location just west of downtown Flossmoor, the apartments will be close to amenities such as the Metra station, library, restaurants and post office.
Under the approved plan, New Star will develop the apartments at the former Martsci Montessori School building and the house just to the north. The house is to be torn down. Knapp has said four apartments would be constructed in the Montessori building and two in the structure to be built on the site of the house.
