Council directs staff to draft documents for 227-unit Old Deerfield rezoning after months of hearings

The Highland Park City Council on Sept. 29 directed city staff to draft preliminary approval documents for a redevelopment plan by Habitat Company LLC that would convert a 28.6-acre former industrial site at 1660 and 1700 Old Deerfield Road into 227 townhouse units, public open space and related infrastructure.

The move follows six Plan & Design Commission hearings from April through September, extensive public comment and a lengthy staff presentation outlining recommended conditions including final engineering, lighting compliance with the city code and an IEPA no-further-remediation letter. Director Fontaine said, “I wanna stress here that this is a preliminary stage of review and approval.”

Why it matters: The proposal would change zoning on most of the site from I (Light Industrial) to RM-1 (medium- to high-density multifamily) and R-7 (single-family/two-family transitional zoning), allow a range of variances and provide public benefits that the developer offered in return for relief on height and other standards. The plan would preserve roughly 45% of the site as open space, reserve about 12.9 acres of…