Tinley Park planners approve downtown housing plans despite residents’ objections

Despite ongoing protests by nearby residents, Tinley Park planners have recommended approval of a project that would bring apartments and townhouses to the downtown area near the Oak Park Avenue Metro station.

Residents said the development east of Oak Park Avenue and north of North Street will worsen traffic in the area.

The housing will be adjacent to the village’s planned Harmony Square, and one resident said the new housing and traffic from events planned for the square will make the already crowded area worse.

Any additional traffic will help the village’s economy, Angela Gatto, acting chair of the plan commission, said at its meeting Thursday.

“This will cause all our downtown businesses to thrive,” she said.

The plan commission’s recommendation will be sent to the village board for tentative consideration at its Nov. 21 meeting.

The Plan Commission’s approval came after the commission previously held off on making a recommendation to the Village Board after residents expressed concerns about traffic.

West Point at Harmony Square is a five-story, 62-apartment mixed-use building above commercial space on North Street, just east of the planned Harmony Square. To the north of the residential building, West Point plans to build 63 homes on the former site of Central Middle School.

According to the plans, it is proposed to build both town houses and an apartment building in one phase, although initial work will focus on town houses.

The Central Middle School property has been owned by the village since 2005, and other plans have emerged in the past for housing there.

According to plans, the townhomes will be three-story buildings with two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 1,500 to 1,800 square feet. The units were supposed to have a two-car garage, and there would also be deck space for cars.

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A private dog park for apartment and townhouse residents will be built between the developments, at roughly the point where 173rd and 67th Avenues meet, and a second park is planned for the 3-acre townhouse site.

The apartments will include five studio units, 29 one-bedroom units, 27 two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units, according to the plans.

There will be two rooftop terraces on the second floor, an exercise room, a lounge and a club room, and the apartments will be “upscale luxury units” each with their own laundry facilities, according to plans.

Passing through the property separating Harmony Square from the apartments would serve as an extension to Court 67, where additional parking would be set aside, according to the plans.

East of Oak Park Avenue and north of North Street, Harmony Plaza is proposed to include a concert stage and an ice rink, as well as an area of ​​artificial turf, other water features and seating, according to plans. The plaza is just under two acres in size and is located directly north of the Oak Park Avenue Metra station.

North Point has built residential development in Tinley Park, such as the West Point Meadows townhomes east of Oak Park Avenue and north of Interstate 80, as well as projects in Naperville, Plainfield and Skokie.

mnolan@tribpub.com