A 120-unit assisted senior living facility is one step closer to breaking ground in Lockport after the city's Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the project at its Oct. 14 meeting. The proposed Heritage Woods development would rise three stories on farmland north of 163rd Street and east of Gougar Road, serving residents age 65 and older who need some daily medical or personal assistance. The recommendation now heads to the full Lockport City Council, which has not yet weighed in on final approval.
The property is currently zoned A1 agricultural and would need to be annexed into the city before being rezoned to R4 multifamily residential, according to Shaw Local. The outlet reports the site has been described as both an 18.65-acre and an 18.6-acre property in city planning records, with the land recommended for development at a density of 1.6 to 2.5 units per acre. The building itself would occupy about 7.46 acres, leaving the remainder as open space, including a landscape buffer along the eastern edge and a 1.7-acre grassy detention basin.
What the Building Would Include
Plans call for 46 studio apartments and 74 one-bedroom units, each outfitted with a kitchenette, private bathroom and accessible features. The Shaw Local report notes the development would also include indoor and outdoor shared recreational amenities, along with walking trails through portions of the property. Heritage Woods would accept both Medicaid and private-pay residents, though the facility would not be licensed for memory care patients, per the developers.
Heritage Woods representatives said most residents are expected to live alone, with only a small percentage of units occupied by married couples or pairs of relatives. The company already owns and operates assisted senior living properties across Will and Kendall counties, with existing locations in Plainfield, Bolingbrook, Minooka and Yorkville. Elsewhere in the state, Heritage Woods of Minooka opened with 101 studio and one-bedroom apartments and was expected to create 50 to 55 full-time and part-time jobs, according to a release distributed via PRWeb.
Staffing, Traffic and School Impact
Plan commissioners said the Lockport development would have no enrollment impact on local schools and only minimal impact on traffic. Heritage Woods expects to employ about 47 full-time workers plus several part-time employees spread across three shifts, with staffing highest during the daytime and early evening on weekdays. About 24 employees would be present during peak daytime hours, and the facility plans to run a daytime shuttle bus for residents who no longer drive.
The Lockport City Council's Committee of the Whole had already approved the development's concept plan in 2025, setting the stage for this month's commission review. A separate Heritage Woods facility operated by Gardant in Freeport houses 76 similar apartments with round-the-clock certified staff providing meals, housekeeping and laundry service, according to Gardant.
Neighbors Raise Ambulance Concerns
Nearby residents expressed concerns about potential disturbances from ambulance or paramedic calls tied to the new facility, per the same account from Shaw Local. In response, Heritage Woods representatives said their other locations average just one or two emergency calls per month, and that ambulances typically do not use sirens when driving through residential areas at night.
A similar dynamic played out in Des Plaines, where Heritage Woods agreed to donate $200,000 toward the purchase of an ambulance or related equipment after officials anticipated the project would generate more emergency calls, according to the Journal & Topics. That Des Plaines facility, approved for final planned-unit-development zoning at Golf and East River roads, will include one- and two-bedroom units with its population capped at 150 residents, and Gardant had expected to begin construction in March 2026 with completion targeted for May 2027.
Why Assisted Living Demand Is Growing
The push for more senior housing comes as northeastern Illinois braces for a wave of aging residents. The region's senior population is projected to increase by 880,000 people between 2015 and 2050, according to data cited by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. Illinois licenses and surveys assisted-living and shared-housing establishments through the Division of Assisted Living within the Illinois Department of Public Health.
For now, the Lockport proposal remains under review, with the full City Council yet to take up the recommendation. Whether the final vote brings changes to the density, acreage figures, or any emergency-response arrangements for neighbors remains to be seen as the project moves through the next stage of city approval.
