Plan for assisted-living development on hold
GOP candidates campaigned against proposal
The controversial proposal for a senior-living facility on Cline Avenue in Highland has been put on ice, at least for now.
Jim Wieser, the attorney representing Davenport, Iowabased Ru s s e l l Group and the owners of the 19acre parcel next to Strack & VanTil on Cline Avenue north of 45th Street, said he went before the Highland Plan Commission Wednesday night to formally withdraw the current petition for the center. The Plan Commission in turn voted to accept the withdrawal, 5-0.
Withdrawing the petition doesn’t kill the project forever, Wieser said. Instead, he said it gives the Russell Group time to reconfigure its plans for the center without having to wait a year before filing it again.
“We want to refile so we have the opportunity to look at different plans and review all our options,” Wieser said Wednesday night after the meeting. “(Russell Group Vice President) Dave Smith is really attached to that location, and we hope to continue to move forward here in Highland.”
But even if a revamped plan fails to woo incoming Plan Commission and Town Council members into approving it in the months to come, the project could get a new home in a nearby locale.
“I’ve had some informal conversations, and other communities have expressed interest in the facility,” Wieser said.
The project — which hinges on the Plan Commission and ultimately the Town Council approving a special use variance for the R-1A-designated parcel — would include at least 70 independent living apartments with full kitchens, in-unit laundry and garages, 50 to 60 assisted-living apartments with kitchenettes and laundry, and a memory-care unit with 18 to 20 specially designed apartments with programming for those with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementiarelated illnesses. Other amenities would include multiple dining options with meals prepared by an on-site chef, game rooms, a library, general store, salon and a large wellness center with fitness equipment and offering daily fitness classes.
Its current plans are a non-starter for two of the incoming councilmen: Roger Sheeman and Mark Schocke, who currently sits on the Plan Commission. Sheeman said recently that his vision for the town includes “smart development,” of which he didn’t believe the seniorliving facility is in its current version, though he has softened his “No” to the center lately.
Schocke, who lives in a neighborhood near the property, said he can’t envision a version that will change his mind for a variety of reasons. At four stories tall, for example, the structure “doesn’t fit” in the area, and he said that he and residents along Kleinman and Cline avenues are concerned about potential drainage issues the center might bring. “There are several ditches that go through the property, and even if you can convince, ‘Is this a keystone piece?’ what’s going to happen with drainage and flooding?” he said.
As well, Schocke said the Russell Group will receive a $3 million TIF district as part of its financing, and he feels that’s a lot for a project that might not have as wide of an anticipated reach.
“I’m sure (a senior-living center) would help some, but not the majority, and unless I see a clear benefit for everyone, it’s a very tough sell to give $3 million in TIF money to a multimillion company,” Schocke said. “But I’m just one guy.”
The developer ran the numbers for an allocation area and presented them to the Redevelopment Commission and Clerk-Treasurer Michael Griffin early on, but no financing of any kind has been established for the project yet, Wieser said.
At a special meeting in October, the Redevelopment Commission and Town Council approved 5-0, an agreement that sets forth stipulations under which the Russell Group, the property owner and the town would proceed with the project.
Among those contingencies are the town creating a road out of the so-named “Ernie Strack Drive,” the rear entrance to the Strack and VanTil grocery store off Kleinman Road; the store and its tenants disconnecting from the Town of Griffith’s sanitary lines and put onto Highland’s sanitary lines; and parking improvements to the store’s parking lot that won’t interfere with other tenants in the complex.
Additionally, a 40-foot tract of land owned by relatives of the Scheeringa family not living on the farm property would be acquired as a right-of-way to the new road.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the PostTribune.