Concord Township planning for growing population

Concord Township already is the largest township in Lake County and it has been steadily growing in population.

To accommodate the growth, officials have been working on providing new residential properties.

The last census showed a population of over 18,000 residents, according to Township Administrator Andy Rose, who believes the population to now be over 19,000 and suspects the township could exceed 20,000 for the 2020 census.

There are several new housing developments currently under construction and work is scheduled to start next month on the Hygrove Villa condominiums which will consist of 55 single family units off Crile Road and Huntington Drive.

The township is also looking at another housing development on Concord Hambden Road which will be developed for approximately eight lots. That area originally zoned for commercial use had to by voted on by township trustees to be rezoned for residential use.

“That’s a tired property and its not a very good commercial property,” Rose said of the long narrow strip of land that backs up to a large residential neighborhood. “Residential is the better fit for that piece of land.”

The township has been undergoing some changes this past year.

The Auburn Crile intersection just off state Route 44 was widened in order to accommodate double lane traffic safely. Rose said that was a multi-million dollar project that enhanced the township’s business district.

Another significant event for the township was the hiring of Rose as the new administrator. He was hired on April 16.

“I don’t even have a year under my belt, but its gone very well and I’m thrilled to be here,” Rose said.

The township continues to recruit new businesses.

Reider’s Market closed in 2017 leaving the township without a full-service grocery store. However, a new one has submitted their building permits to the county and the township is now waiting for them to make a formal announcement, according to Rose.

“So we expect to have a grocery store next year,” he said. “We are very very very excited about that and that’s going to be on Crile road taking the place of the vacant grocery store we have right now. We are very excited to get that going.” Drug Mart opened up in the township over the summer.

“In talking with Drug Mart leadership the sales have exceeded expectation there,” Rose said. “So that has been well received by the community.”

There are two new hotels currently under construction in the township — Home Suites which is a Hilton flag and a Holiday Inn Express. Both hotels will have around 75 rooms.

Holiday Inn Express is closer to being finished and has a target opening date of April 19.

Other businesses recently opened in the township include Chipotle and Starbucks.

Future plans for the township include new fire houses and the Town Center Concept - Capital Parkway. which is still in its infancy, according to Rose. This would be off state Route 44 where the township has 7-, 5.5- and 26-acre parcels.

Rose said the township is trying to get developers to look at the parcels and eventually do a “town center” concept that includes boutiques, specialty shops, business and some mixeduse apartments on the parcels.

Rose anticipates this happening over five to seven years.

“We are talking to various developers to see if we can work towards the next step because right now we got the infrastructure in place, the roads in place and we got the initial concept,” he said. “So now we are talking with developers to see if anybody is interested in coming in.”

Rose compares the concept to a mini Legacy Village.