Northeast Illinois AIA150 Charrette Focuses on Redevelopment
Four mixed-use, mixed-density concepts presented to Wood Dale, Ill., city council

by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

How do you . . . involve the community and community government in a redevelopment charrette?

Summary: Members of AIA Northeast Illinois presented the results of their Wood Dale redevelopment design charrette—held last April as a part of their AIA150 celebration—to the city’s aldermen June 14. The Georgetown Square charrette explored potential mixed-use, mixed-density housing redevelopments on a site selected by AIA Northeast Illinois because of its aging infrastructure and proximity to shopping, transportation, and schools. The AIA members, the Wood Dale government, business leaders, residents, and the county homeownership center all participated to facilitate an open discussion for the housing redevelopment, targeted for working families, senior citizens, and first-time home buyers. The final project, based on the charrette, would ultimately help Wood Dale, located in DuPage County, rewrite portions of its zoning codes in its community development guidelines.

The Georgetown Square charrette project was organized last April by John C. Dzarnowski, AIA, AIA Northeast Illinois first vice-president and Board member, and currently at Oak Brook Illinois-based FGM Architects. In addition to Wood Dale officials, who included the mayor and city council members, the charrette involved a cross-section of people: the DuPage Homeownership Center, local municipality staff, local business leaders, real estate agents, bankers, and residents, including residents of the area slated to be torn down to accommodate the new development. Of the four concepts presented, two proposals featured multiple, smaller retail centers and a mix of apartments and condominiums, while two other proposals featured townhouses and condominiums on the site’s outskirts, with open space in the center common areas.

Charrettes aim to improve affordable housing
Dzarnowski explains that AIA Northeast Illinois was searching for an AIA150 program when, in March 2006, the chapter was called by the DuPage Homeownership Center, which was hosting a symposium in the county about escalating home prices. The center wanted AIA Northeast Illinois to help encourage the discussion for improving housing affordability in the county. “I became involved on a committee to look at recommendations to rewrite the local zoning codes to help encourage incentives to build more affordable homes in the area,” says Dzarnowski. “Through that committee work, the AIA volunteered to host charrettes with that same point in mind, especially for mixed-density and mixed-use projects.”

Based on the results of the Georgetown charrette, Wood Dale is looking at rewriting portions of its zoning codes in its community development guidelines. “We were able to come in and provide solutions without having necessarily to follow their existing zoning code,” Dzarnowski notes. “They are also going to create a TIF district [Tax Increment Financing] around the site we looked at and base some of the objectives of the TIF on some of the results that came out of the charrette.”

First of three charrettes
The Georgetown Square charrette is the first of three charrettes by AIA Northeast Illinois to help DuPage County municipalities make recommendations for zoning changes, create a technical assistance bank to collect county home ownership information, and make presentations on community outreach, such as to local rotary groups and school boards. “We are looking at projects that have the potential to be real projects,” Dzarnowski says. “I hope we can show, at some point, a successful project based on the charrettes.”

Dzarnowski adds that the charrettes are ambitious. “It’s tied into more than just our chapter saying, ‘we are going to hold a charrette.’ There’s actually a reason behind it to take results to change some of the ordinances and planning that the communities currently have.”