Business View Civil Municipal - Sept 2023

138 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9 “We’re getting a nice mix in terms of housing opportunities that we didn’t have in the past. That diversity in housing stock gives us the opportunity for different types of folks to move into Warrenville. You can have an apartment, a nice house with a big yard, or a modest house with a small yard. That diversity is something that we’ve done intentionally because we knew that it was necessary for the future of the community.” Stafford Place is another example of Warrenville’s careful and considered approach to residential development. “It was a factory site of 4.25 acres that was contaminated pretty heavily,” Brummel notes. “We found an opportunity about 12 years back to purchase that property with the understanding that if we didn’t purchase it, and intentionally clean it up, it would forever be a brownfield place and would sit there and be a blight in our attempt to re-imagine our downtown. The city purchased the land and spent a better part of a decade cleaning the area up to ensure that it was up to a residential standard and then the city obtained their NFR (No Further Remediation) letter from the state. “We then spent a couple of years shopping for developers to try and get exactly what we thought was appropriate for that area; and had a lot of offers that weren’t what we were looking for. We finally found a high-quality, local developer that came up with an outstanding plan. So we took that contaminated site and turned it into 27 single-family homes.” “It’s a delightful little neighborhood that’s very well done. It’s right on the Prairie Path, close to the City Hall and Police Department, and close to the Park District. That’s one of the most satisfying things that we do; we take something that has minimal value or no value at all, and turn it into something that has value.”