The Arlington Heights village board Tuesday granted zoning approvals for construction of a 5-story, 70-unit senior independent-living apartment building at The Moorings. The plan calls for preservation of the historic Wheeler-Magnus Round Barn.
Courtesy of Village of Arlington Heights
The Moorings can build a 5-story, 70-unit apartment building on its Arlington Heights campus, the village board decided Tuesday, helping to fill the senior living community’s growing demand for more independent-living spaces.
Trustees voted 7-0 to grant zoning changes requested by Presbyterian Homes, which has managed the 41-acre campus at 811 E. Central Road since 2000.
It will be the first major expansion since 2016, when a 73-unit assisted-living building and 20-unit memory-care facility were built.
A market study provided by Presbyterian Homes showed a demand of 70 to 150 more units of senior housing in the area.
“This fulfills a need that our seniors have,” said Trustee Wendy Dunnington. “I’ve heard from seniors that they want to stay in Arlington Heights, and having this senior housing will allow them to stay here.”
The new building is proposed to have 65 two-bedroom units and 5 one-bedroom units available to rent for adults age 62 and older. Each apartment would have a kitchen, balcony and underground garage parking space.
To make room for the new building, parking lots and drive aisles would be relocated, while two stormwater areas would be constructed: a dry-bottom detention area in the northeast corner of the site, and a wet-bottom pond to the east.
The site plans call for preservation of the Wheeler-Magnus Round Barn — circa 1910 — a relic from the property’s legacy as a working farm, and one of three structures in Arlington Heights on the National Register of Historic Places. The area around the barn will be enhanced with a decorative retaining wall, landscaping and a patio.
Charles Witherington-Perkins, the village’s director of planning and community development, said during initial conversations a year ago he and his staff encouraged The Moorings’ project team to preserve the historic barn, despite the challenges it created for site planning.
Drew Roskos, the project architect, said the new building’s footprint was angled to “sort of embrace” the round barn.
The approvals granted Tuesday night include a variation to allow a 5-story, 67.5 foot-tall building where building heights are otherwise limited to 4 stories and 45 feet.
The Moorings’ 41-acre campus already includes buildings as tall as five stories — which Arlington Heights officials say justifies zoning approvals for a new 5-story apartment building.
Courtesy of Village of Arlington Heights
Previous village boards have granted height variations for new construction at The Moorings going back to the original redevelopment in 1985, when 5-story buildings with average heights of 50 feet were built.
Village officials said the new building will be in the center of the campus — set back 180 feet from the nearest single-family home to the east in Mount Prospect.
Earlier iterations of plans submitted to village hall had taller structures and more density, officials added.
Currently, The Moorings has 74 single-family attached villas, and a 5-story, 192-unit apartment building. When the new structure is built, the campus will have a total of 336 independent living units.
Construction is scheduled to take place between March 2026 and September 2027.