The Homewood Village Board approved a special use permit on Feb. 11 that will allow for the redevelopment of the building that used to house Spornette International Inc.
Mahmoud Essa has proposed the idea of converting the Spornette building into a 15-unit apartment complex. The property is located at 18240 Harwood Avenue and is 16,646 square feet. The project will be completed by Lucid Engineering Services, said Angela Mesaros, Director of Economic and Community Development.
Since the number of units requested is higher than seven, it requires a special use permit in the Downtown Transition zoning district. Each unit will have two bedrooms, a washer/dryer, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. The complex will have 27 parking spaces, as well as interior and exterior bicycle parking available for tenants, said Mesaros.
A public hearing was held with the Planning and Zoning Commission for the project on Jan. 23. According to Mesaros, it was granted approval with a majority vote of five to one.
“Commissioners in support of the proposal felt that the units’ size and the design of the warehouse conversion to apartments was creative and would attract a younger demographic,” said Mesaros.
The Homewood board expressed enthusiasm for the project as well, and inquired about some details at Tuesday’s meeting.
“It seems like it’s so close to the train, is that a concern as far as noise?” asked Trustee Allisa Opyd.
“We’re providing landscape screening on top of providing those back-end apartments with triple pane glass and windows to help mitigate the noise from the area,” said Amrou Said from Lucid Engineering.
According to Said, construction is estimated to start by early spring this year.
