Thomas Place

The development

In 1995, as the Village of Glenview began drawing up plans for The Glen, a mixed-use development built on a former military base, it prioritized easing the community’s shortage of affordable senior housing in its redevelopment efforts. The result is Thomas Place, a mixed-income senior apartment building located in The Glen. Thomas Place has 144 homes, of which 108 are affordable, and is an independent living community for seniors 55 and older. The five-acre development has 44 one-bedroom and 100 two-bedroom apartments. The one-bedroom apartments are 925 square feet and the two-bedroom apartments are 1,200 square feet.

Each home in Thomas Place comes with an underground parking space, washer and dryer, dishwasher, microwave, walk-in closets and a patio or balcony. The building has an exercise room, arts and crafts room, billiards room, library, a television room with free computer service and a common dining area.

Part of The Glen Master Development, Thomas Place is adjacent to the Glenview Park District golf course and conveniently located within walking distance of The Glen’s shopping, dining and entertainment amenities. It is also accessible by bus and commuter rail. Thomas Place had its grand opening in November 2006; as of 2014 it was fully occupied with a long waiting list.

The U.S. Dept. of Defense closed the Glenview Naval Air Station in 1993. At the time, the base’s footprint occupied 15 percent of the village. The Village of Glenview itself was the master developer of the site. A redevelopment Team refined the community’s reuse plan, developed a master plan and design guidelines to reflect the goals of the plan, and prepared Requests For Qualification (RFQ) followed by Requests For Proposals (RFP) to sell subdivided parcels. Senior affordable housing was identified as a goal and the Village requested the development of senior housing when it prepared the RFQs and RFPs.

Thomas Place L.L.C., Glenview Elderly Program North (GEPN) and Turnstone Development (Cook County Housing Development Corp.) established a partnership to accomplish the development. GEPN, a nonprofit organization serving seniors, responded to the RFQ. The Village approved the proposal and provided GEPN, at no cost, a parcel of land on which to build, significantly reducing the future cost of the development. The Village of Glenview also provided a fourth mortgage of $1.4 million due in 20 years to help finish the development.

Creating affordability

Of the 144 apartments, 108 (75 percent) are designated as affordable housing for seniors. Of the affordable units, 20 percent are designated for individuals earning 40 percent area median income (AMI) or less, 30 percent are for people at 50 percent AMI, and 25 percent are reserved for individuals at 60 percent AMI. The other 25 percent, or 36 apartments, are rented at market rates.

In 2014, the one-bedroom affordable apartments rented for $538 to $805 per month, and the market rate one-bedrooms rented for $1,098 per month. Rents for the two-bedroom affordable apartments range from $643 to $964 per month, while the market rate two-bedrooms are $1,349 per month.

Contact

Thomas & Thomas Associates
847-998-4764, www.thomasthomasassociates.com