process

Overview - Status Update: April 7, 2008

I write to inform you that upon the advice of the Chancellor's Orchard Downs Advisory Committee, the Orchard Downs Selection Committee and subsequent research on the part of staff, I have determined that it is not in the best interest of the University and the community to make a developer selection under the current process.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime community development project, with significant economic benefits for the area. The lessons learned from the process have positioned the University to develop a successful project, and we are committed to moving forward. Our vision for Orchard Downs is that it will be a vibrant, intergenerational, multicultural, living/learning destination community at the University of Illinois - rich with amenities, enabled by technology, and built on a foundation of healthy, sustainable design. The community will include an active senior retirement component, single housing units, as well as University of Illinois family student housing. The integrating of these elements and making them compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods is an important part of the vision.

A Master Land Use Plan to guide and direct the architectural excellence we seek will be developed. Once the plan is approved, each parcel will be developed according to an appropriate schedule. This approach supports the ability to bring in development partners with focused expertise for each component.

I am grateful to the committee members who spent many hours reviewing proposals and seeking advice from their constituents, as well as campus and community members who provided input. Be assured that as we move forward, we will continue to seek the advice of the local residents and the Advisory Committee.

Chancellor Richard Herman
April 7, 2008

Schedule/Timeline

Click here to display Project Timeline For Selecting Master Developer Candidate.

Public Input

Receiving public input is required on a project the size of Orchard Downs redevelopment with its relationship to surrounding neighborhoods, the City of Urbana, and its importance to the overall mission of the University. The University has developed a forum-based public input process to provide early input to developers and the ability to view concept plans and final developer presentations. The input process allows, and the University encourages the public to provide their visions to the candidate developers for Orchard Downs redevelopment, and later, when concept plans are produced, to provide feedback on specific plan components in order to express a preference for design elements within each plan.

Each forum or event will be widely publicized, held in venues that will accommodate large attendance, and provide opportunity to share ideas and suggestions.

Orchard Downs will continue to be a University owned asset that will be developed in accordance with the overall mission of the University. As such, the University will retain final decision-making on the Orchard Downs redevelopment to create an amenity that is outstanding and unique among its peers. The nature and type of public meetings and approximate dates are listed on the
Public Input Project Schedule.