Berwyn officials ask public what to do with city-owned Windsor and Stanley properties as staff readies RFPs

City officials asked aldermen on Tuesday to give direction on how to redevelop two blocks of city-owned property in the Depot District, including 6800–6804 Windsor Avenue and three former industrial buildings at 6609–6639 Stanley Street, and said staff will finish draft requests for proposals and circulate them to aldermen for feedback.

The discussion centered on balancing transit-oriented, mixed-use development with parking, financing and neighborhood impacts. "The comprehensive plan states for this area is that we should be promoting high density, mixed use walkable transit oriented design because of the proximity to the metro station," said David Halsberg of Bruin Development Corporation, the staff presenter.

The two properties present different physical constraints and opportunities. Halsberg said the Windsor Avenue building, built about 1930, is five stories and roughly 47,000 square feet plus a basement of about 12,500 square feet and "appears to be very solid." He noted the building lost its grandfathered nonconforming status when it sat vacant more than a year and that reoccupancy will trigger parking requirements tied to the proposed use. "If you are doing apartments per se, apartments would be 1 parking space per dwelling unit here, but relief could be variation for use, for parking," Halsberg said.

On Stanley Street, the city now controls three adjacent properties that had industrial uses, including a former Comcast cross-dock and a moving-company–style Allied building. Halsberg described those structures as environmentally clean for redevelopment and said developers once eyed breweries and an apparel manufacturer for the sites but were unable to acquire title previously. The city paid roughly $300,000 for the Windsor property, Halsberg said; the allied parcel in the Stanley group was later purchased for "a little more than $500,000," and the city paid about $80,000 in legal fees to clear title on the other parcels, he added.

Aldermen and staff discussed specific uses: market-rate apartments with ground-floor retail, affordable housing using competitive state and federal financing (Halsberg noted the census tract could score favorably in CDFI/affordable-housing competitions), live-work artist studios, a small hotel of roughly 60–80 rooms, a youth/education center and entertainment or brewery uses on Stanley. Several aldermen emphasized keeping active street frontage and walkability. "The idea that seemed to garner the most support ... was doing some kind of youth center ... that would serve Berwyn families," one alderman summarized after a brief online survey of residents was cited.

Parking and financing were recurring constraints. Halsberg said the nearby municipal parking deck has about 360 spaces plus 60 overflow spots but that some passes are held by employees of McNeil (the nearby hospital), which recently acquired a nearby lot and may build additional parking. An alderman noted the Stanley parcels together approach nearly two acres, which can make tax-increment financing an option; Halsberg confirmed the properties are presently in a TIF district but did not state a firm expiration date during the meeting.

Halsberg said staff intends to complete one or more RFPs incorporating council guidance and selection criteria that will include design quality, financial capacity, secured financing commitments, proposed purchase price and any incentives requested. "I'll go back, work on these RFPs, send them to all the aldermen individually, get their feedback so that when I come to council next, that I have sort of built a consensus," he told the council.

Councilors did not take a formal vote on specific land uses at the meeting; staff will return with RFP language and seek aldermanic input.

Why it matters: The parcels sit across from the Depot Metro station and are sized to shape the neighborhood's walkability, tax base and housing mix. Any chosen path could affect stormwater systems, parking patterns, TIF revenues and long-term downtown character.

Details and context: The Windsor building is on the southwest corner of Windsor and Oak Park and was constructed circa 1930. Halsberg said the building is fully sprinkled and that the city currently insures it for demolition coverage at about $30,000 per year. He described the C3 Depot zoning column in the city packet as the governing list of allowed and special uses. For Stanley, Halsberg said demolition costs will be higher for some structures because of internal concrete docks but that environmental checks, including near an old incinerator, returned clean results.

Next steps: Staff will finalize RFP language and circulate it to aldermen for written feedback before returning to council with a recommended process timeline and selection criteria.