Controversial downtown Batavia project gets new life after mayor s tiebreaking vote Retail space along River and Wilson streets, office space, 186 apartments and a two-level parking garage are included in plans for the proposed One Washington Place in downtown Batavia. Courtesy of Shodeen Group
The former First Baptist Church of Batavia was demolished to make way for the One Washington Place development. Brian Hill | Staff Photographer, 2017
Updated 1/6/2021 8:44 AM
Thanks to tiebreaking votes by Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke, the controversial $48 million One Washington Place project lives to see an other day.
But don t expect construction soon. As of Monday, developer Shodeen Group hasn t created construction documents or applied for a building permit for the six-story project with 186 apartments, a 350-space parking garage and several stores.
Updated 12/21/2020 8:11 PM
The final day of candidate filing added four more contested village president and mayoral races in the Fox Valley to what was already shaping up to be a spring election with possible sweeping changes in local government.
Geneva, East Dundee, Hampshire and West Dundee will all have contested races for the top spot in local government.
Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns has been part of the city government since 1997. To keep that streak alive, he ll face a rematch of the 2017 election. Resident Tom Simonian will take another shot at unseating Burns.
Simonian has remained highly critical of the way things are done in Geneva over the last four years. He lost to Burns by about 1,500 votes in their first contest.