Long-vacant land near Fox Valley Mall on Aurora's far east side could soon become home to 185 townhomes after 18 months of negotiation between the city and developer M/I Homes. The Aurora City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposal, known as Kingsley Row, on Tuesday, August 25. The deal folds in sustainability requirements, road construction paid for by the builder, and financial assistance for prospective buyers.
The project, called Kingsley Row, would place 185 townhomes across 38 buildings on 28 acres near the intersection of Ogden Avenue and 75th Street, according to the Aurora Beacon-News. City planning filings describe the units as three-story, rear-loaded townhomes averaging roughly 2,200 square feet, each with a two-car garage and driveway, plus 37 shared visitor parking spaces, according to City of Aurora planning documents. The Beacon-News reports the homes will include two- and three-story townhouses with two or three bedrooms, with planned sale prices in the mid- to upper-$500,000s.
A Site That's Waited Decades for Development
The parcel has a long and stalled history. It was annexed by Aurora in 1998, according to the Beacon-News, and was originally intended for an auto and commercial purpose before city records show it was proposed for an assisted living facility in 2019 — a project that ultimately fell through. Before that, the land was slated for Melody Town Center, a mixed-use development that was never built; M/I Homes' rezoning request formally replaces that unbuilt plan, according to city planning filings. Aurora had approved a redevelopment agreement for the site back in 2019 using Tax Increment Financing, but Indian Prairie School District 204 publicly objected over how TIF tax allocation might affect classroom overcrowding, according to city records.
That funding fight appears resolved through the current deal: rather than relying on TIF, M/I Homes has agreed to fully fund construction of the Commons Drive extension and related intersection improvements. City engineer Russ Whitaker said the city had previously planned to spend millions of dollars on the Commons Drive extension and other infrastructure work itself, per the Beacon-News. Under the new arrangement, M/I Homes will extend Commons Drive from Ogden Avenue to 75th Street as a three-lane right-of-way that widens into dedicated turn lanes at both intersections, according to city engineering specifications. The Commons Drive connection will include sidewalks, and the project also includes intersection improvements to Route 34 and 75th Street. The Ogden Avenue intersection will get dedicated left- and right-turn lanes, while the 75th Street intersection will include dual left-turn lanes. In a separate trade-off, M/I Homes will pay the city a fee instead of building sidewalks along Ogden Avenue and 75th Street.
Mayor Pushed for Sound Wall, Energy Standards
Aurora Mayor John Laesch, who took office in May 2025 after defeating two-term incumbent Richard Irvin, wanted the project to include a sound wall, according to the Beacon-News. Laesch established the city's first Department of Sustainability and Director position after campaigning on environmental sustainability and progressive municipal governance, according to the City of Aurora. That priority shaped the negotiations, which included new sustainability requirements and increased green space beyond what earlier commercial proposals for the site had contemplated.
City negotiator David Dibo described the talks as requiring time, good faith and flexibility, per the same report. M/I Homes has committed to performance-based home-efficiency standards that mark the first time the company has incorporated Aurora's efficiency requirements into a large-scale project, the Beacon-News reports. The homes are expected to be roughly 60 percent more efficient than a typical home built in 2006, featuring better insulation, tighter windows and sealing that would reduce air drafts and sound transmission between neighboring units. Those measures are also intended to lower homeowner utility costs, allow for smaller mechanical utility systems, and help homes stay cooler for longer during power or air-conditioning outages, while adding overall durability and resilience. The efficiency standards are aligned with state efficiency requirements set under Illinois' updated statewide Energy Conservation Code, which took effect November 30, 2025, and which also created a voluntary Stretch Energy Code option for municipalities under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, according to the Illinois Capital Development Board.
M/I Homes will be able to choose which specific efficiency measures to implement to reach the city's required efficiency score, and must submit design reports demonstrating compliance with each building permit application, along with post-construction verification that the homes meet the standards. Per the Beacon-News report, the initial version of the efficiency compliance would have cost M/I Homes an additional $10,000 to $13,000 per unit; the negotiated standards ultimately require about $8,000 to $10,000 in additional developer costs per unit. Aurora agreed to cap permit fee costs for the builder, a concession expected to save M/I Homes $2,000 to $2,500 per unit. City sustainability official Alison Lindburg described the M/I Homes partnership as a learning experience for both the city and the company, according to the Beacon-News. Laesch said he expects demand for energy-efficient homes to increase.
Buyer Assistance and a Booming Corridor
Prospective buyers may also be able to tap Aurora's Choose Aurora Homebuyer Assistance Program, which launched in February 2026 and applies to townhomes and new construction. The program provides up to $27,000 in total assistance — a $20,000 zero-percent interest deferred loan, $5,000 for closing costs and $2,000 for repairs — for households earning up to 120 percent of the area median income, using federal HUD HOME funds alongside city resources, according to Patch.
Kingsley Row sits in a high-traffic area near school district 204 and area highways, and city officials have framed the proposed development as bringing needed housing along with increased property and sales tax revenue to the area. It also joins a broader transformation already underway nearby: the adjacent Fox Valley Mall has added the 304-unit Lumen apartments in November 2022 and the 323-unit Lucca luxury rental community in June 2025 on former department store land, part of a multi-phase master redevelopment reported by Patch.
The project also reflects a wider shift among homebuilders. M/I Homes of Chicago has expanded its suburban footprint through 2026 with projects including a 227-unit townhouse development called The Bowery on a former industrial site in Highland Park and a 167-unit development in Hawthorn Woods, according to The Real Deal. Nationally, townhouse construction reached an all-time high in late 2025 as builders shifted toward attached housing to offset rising land and construction costs, according to National Association of Home Builders data reported by Homes.com News. If Aurora's council approves the plan next Tuesday, Kingsley Row would mark one of the clearest local examples yet of that pattern — a shuttered retail parcel converted into dense, energy-conscious housing along a corridor already being reshaped by the mall's own residential makeover.
