Downers Grove weighs converting vacant office building into 184 apartments

Downers Grove officials are reviewing a proposal to convert a largely vacant six-story office building at 1020 31st Street into 184 market-rate apartments, a change that would shift the property from office use to housing.

The Downers Grove Village Council held a first reading and public hearing on the proposal July 7, 2026. The meeting did not result in a reported final approval or rejection. Instead, the council planned to gather additional information and return to the matter at a future meeting.

What the proposal would change

The applicant is seeking to rezone the property from O, Office, to B2PUD, General Retail Business with a planned-unit-development designation. The requested zoning change is part of a plan to reuse the existing office building for residential purposes.

The application also includes requests for zoning relief related to building height and floor-area ratio. Those requests are connected to the proposed adaptive reuse of the six-story structure rather than construction of a new building, according to the development summary reviewed for this report.

The proposal calls for 184 market-rate apartment units. The available record does not describe the apartments as affordable housing. It also does not identify the developer, provide a project cost or give a construction schedule.

Local questions remain unresolved

The public hearing brought attention to how a conversion of the mostly vacant office property could affect the surrounding area and local public systems. Council members and residents raised questions about schools, traffic, infrastructure and neighborhood character.

Those topics are part of the ongoing review, not confirmed effects of the project. The approved sources do not establish that the apartments would increase school enrollment, raise traffic levels or require specific infrastructure improvements. They also do not show that any infrastructure work has been approved.

The central land-use issue is whether the existing building can be put to a different use while fitting within the village’s planning and zoning framework. Moving from office space to 184 homes would create a different pattern of occupancy and activity at the 31st Street site, making the requested zoning classification and related relief important parts of the council’s review.

Next step is additional review

July 7 was an initial council reading and public hearing, not a final vote authorizing the apartment conversion. The council’s known next step is to obtain more information and continue discussing the proposal at a future meeting.

The source packet does not provide a date for that next meeting. It also does not establish whether the council has taken a later vote to approve or reject the zoning request.

For Downers Grove, the proposal presents two connected planning questions: how to reuse a largely vacant office building and how to evaluate the housing, traffic, school, infrastructure and neighborhood considerations that could accompany that change. Until the council completes its review, the 184-unit development remains a proposal rather than an approved or active construction project.