The Woodstock City Council has unanimously approved a redevelopment agreement for the former Die Cast site, but not before residents raised their concerns.

The city has long been working with Murphy Development Group on plans for the site to construct 187 apartments. Half are one-bedroom units, and half are two-bedroom units. But the number of units is more than in a previous version, which had 156 units.

Plans call for seven three-story buildings and 281 parking spaces, including garage parking, outdoor assigned parking and amenity parking, according to city records.

About 99 units and three buildings towards the southern end of the site are expected to be included in Phase 1, while the remainder of the units would be built in Phase 2.

Residents of the Brownstones development near the proposed site raised their concerns at a recent meeting with the development, including traffic, especially on Clay Street to the east, and city subsidies for the development, among others.

John McNamara, who lives in the Brownstones, said, “Clay Street is a transportation disaster.”

McNamara said the residents of the new development would need to use Clay Street to get in or out of the area. He said the road handles a lot of local traffic and feels the transportation issues had not been addressed with the proposal.

McNamara said the Brownstones have a private driveway, which was to be for their homes and another set of 10 rowhomes that were never built. McNamara said it would be 35 units instead with the new development, and significant issues would come up. He felt like there was too much development and too much traffic.

He added the Brownstones homeowners association has been maintaining the driveway for about 20 years.

“We’ve got a significant investment in that,” McNamara said.

Mayor Mike Turner said Clay Street is a city issue and that he wished the whole development would have been built out in 2005. But he said there is a new development environment and the city needs to react to that.

Turner said he understood the changes with the driveway could cause concerns but didn’t think the city or developer had a way around it.

Dave Ariola of Murphy Development Group said the plans were initially for 256 units when the development group was picked and that the site is hard to lay out.

Other issues McNamara raised included the architecture, saying the buildings would be out of character with surrounding neighborhoods and the historic district.

Resident Diane McNamara said she opposed the amount of subsidies the city and its taxpayers are giving for the project.

As part of the agreement, the city will convey the property after closing conditions have been satisfied. That has about a $2.4 million appraised value.

The city created a new tax increment financing district last month for the project, and the city has a TIF reimbursement cap that is 18% of the project costs or no more than $8 million.

The city also agreed to waive up to an estimated $1.4 million of city-controlled fees. But the waivers are conditioned on closing, starting construction and completing the applicable phase, according to city documents.

The total city assistance is estimated to be a maximum of $11.8 million, according to city documents. But the city said the development represents an estimated investment of more than $45 million in downtown Woodstock.

McNamara said the city was waiving its fees and, by providing inspection and other services for free, “it is a direct cost to the city and the residents of Woodstock.”

She said she developed multifamily rental housing for 15 years and said she understood the need to eliminate risk. She said one way to reduce risk is to get as much subsidy as possible and another way is to minimize upfront costs.

“I have no problem with providing public assistance to a quality development,” but the price the city is paying is “I think indefensible as proposed,” McNamara said.

Turner said the figures in the agreement weren’t that different from what the city sees elsewhere in the market and that Murphy was chosen because of its quality, track record and ability to finish the job. Woodstock has had many “fits and starts” on the parcel since 2005, the mayor said.

Jessica Erickson, the city’s economic development director, said the developers identified the gap in their ability to do a high-quality project in the constraints of the site. That’s how the dollar amount for TIF reimbursement came to be, she said.

“Our goal is to create a residential community that complements Downtown Woodstock, provides much-needed housing opportunities, and takes full advantage of its proximity to the Metra station. We are honored to be part of this effort and look forward to building on the momentum created by this milestone,” Ariola said in part in a news release.

“This agreement represents an important milestone in our efforts to transform a long-vacant industrial property into a productive part of our downtown. We’ve been deliberate in evaluating the opportunities and challenges associated with this site, and we appreciate the work that has gone into developing a proposal that brings new housing, investment and activity to Downtown Woodstock,” Turner said in the release of the former factory site.

“While there are still important steps ahead, council’s approval moves this project forward and creates an opportunity to turn an underutilized property into a new neighborhood that connects residents with our Historic Square, Metra station, businesses and amenities,” according to the mayor’s statement.

Woodstock approved a negotiating agreement with Murphy Development Group last year after they were one of two developers invited to present their plans to the City Council. The city restarted with the new developer after a previous builder backed out in 2024 when its financing didn’t come together.

Woodstock officials said that Murphy will need to get its financing secured before the city conveys any property and before construction starts.

Officials said bringing new residents downtown is expected to support local businesses, expand Woodstock’s tax base and strengthen connections between downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.

The project is now headed to the formal development review process, and site plan, architecture and design details are expected to get more public review.

The agreement gives a deadline for closing and land conveyance of Aug. 31, 2027, with financing closing on Sept. 30, 2027, and construction starting Oct. 1, 2027. Final Phase 1 construction is to be done by Feb. 28, 2031. City officials said those dates were not meant to be interpreted as the developers’ schedule, and that the developers’ goal is to move ahead as quickly as required processes and steps allow.