If you catch the 6:42 into Chicago from downtown Naperville, you have probably parked on some of the most valuable dirt in the city and paid nothing for the privilege. Thirteen acres of city-owned land wrap around the 5th Avenue Metra station a few blocks north of downtown, and most of it functions as roughly 1,700 free commuter parking spaces. That has been true for years. What changed this year is that the state law widely blamed for keeping that land underbuilt finally went away, and the city still chose not to touch the site.
That sequence, not the parking lot itself, is the part worth understanding if you are weighing a home near downtown Naperville against something a mile or two out.
A Site With Two Failed Attempts Already Behind It
This is not the first time someone has tried to turn this parking into something else. In 2019, developer Ryan Companies brought back a plan for the site that combined two earlier concepts: a 20 percent increase in affordable housing units, 253 additional commuter parking spaces, and a 32,000-square-foot increase in green space. The 5th Avenue Steering Committee and city staff both recommended it. The city council voted it down on October 1, 2019.
The site went quiet for a few years. Then in 2025, the city brought in the Urban Land Institute's Chicago chapter to run a formal study, called a Technical Assistance Panel, on what could realistically go on the parcel. Panel chair Jon Talty, CEO of Chicago-based OKW Architects, led sessions in June 2025 and presented preliminary findings to a public forum that September. A full 24-page report followed in December, recommending mixed-use buildings and greater density along Washington Street, smaller-scale buildings toward the surrounding neighborhoods, and a community gathering space or market area on the land north of the tracks.
The panel also flagged something specific: with hybrid work now common, the report estimated that 80 percent of the site's current commuter parking capacity might be sufficient going forward, freeing up land that had been reserved purely for cars.
Then the City Chose a Different Study
Here is where the story turns. The city council had budgeted $150,000 for exactly one large-scale redevelopment study in 2026, and it had to pick between two candidates: the 5th Avenue site or the I-88 corridor. City staff recommended I-88, and the council agreed.
The stated reason was not lack of interest in 5th Avenue. It was uncertainty about state law. Two pieces of legislation were in play. The first, Illinois' People Over Parking Act, took effect in June 2026 and prohibits local governments from enforcing parking minimums on development within a half mile of a public transit station, which describes this parcel almost exactly. The second, a proposed measure known as the Building Up Illinois Developments Act, would go further and change local zoning authority more broadly if it passes. City staff told council they believed the BUILD Act would affect the 5th Avenue site more than the I-88 corridor, and that funding a master plan for 5th Avenue now risked building it around rules that could shift again before anything got built.
Here is the timeline in one place:
| Year | What Happened | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Ryan Companies proposal with added affordable housing, commuter parking, and green space | Voted down by city council, October 1 |
| 2025 | Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Panel studies the site, recommends mixed-use density, a TIF district, and a formal master plan | Report released, no funded next step |
| 2026 | Council allocates one $150,000 study slot between 5th Avenue and the I-88 corridor | I-88 chosen, citing uncertainty from the People Over Parking Act and pending BUILD Act |
So the parking-minimum rule that critics said was blocking density near this station has already been repealed. The city still did not move, because a second, still-pending law could rewrite the zoning math again before a master plan is even drafted. One resident put the frustration plainly at a recent council meeting, arguing that walking away from the site again would "effectively waste cost, time and efforts spent" on the years of study already done.
Private Money Isn't Waiting for the City to Decide
While the 13 acres sit in planning limbo, the district immediately around them is not standing still. Earlier this year, CBRE brokered the sale of the Fifth Avenue Station building, a mixed-use property with 118 loft-style apartments and more than 94,000 square feet of commercial space, within walking distance of the Metra station and downtown. The building was constructed in 1918 as a Kroehler Furniture factory and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It sold to San Francisco-based Friedkin Realty Group and Bridge Capital Partners, marking the buyers' second acquisition in Naperville. CBRE's Dan Cohen, who represented the seller, described the location as a "proven, long-term asset" that should only become more desirable as surrounding development materializes.
Separately, a smaller city-owned parking lot next to that same building is currently being reworked to add restaurant space and an improved streetscape, a modest, already-funded project running in parallel to the stalled 13-acre plan.
Put those two facts together and the picture sharpens. Institutional capital is willing to bet on this immediate area today, on the strength of its walkability and its proximity to downtown and the train, even without knowing what the city eventually does with its own parcel. The city, meanwhile, is the one party that keeps hitting pause.
What This Means If You're Looking Near Downtown Right Now
For a buyer comparing a home near downtown Naperville against something farther out, the practical read is this: the scarcity of walkable, transit-close inventory downtown is not about to ease on any predictable timeline. The land that could eventually add density and new housing stock closest to the Metra station and Washington Street corridor is not moving through any currently funded process. The city's own 2026 budget decision confirms that a master plan, let alone construction, is not on a near-term path. Whatever eventually gets built here will follow the same pattern the site has shown since 2019: years of study, a vote, and then possibly more waiting for the next law to settle.
That cuts two ways for someone shopping today. It means existing homes and condos within an easy walk of downtown and the train carry a scarcity premium that isn't likely to be diluted by a wave of new supply anytime soon. It also means anyone banking on a specific delivery date for new construction at 5th Avenue should treat that timeline with real skepticism. This is a parcel with a documented history of near-misses, and the two most recent developments, a law clearing one obstacle and a council still choosing to wait, both point the same direction: patience, not urgency, is the safer assumption.
A Few Direct Questions
Is anything actually under construction at the 5th Avenue site right now? No master redevelopment has broken ground. The only active work nearby is the smaller, already-funded project reworking a city-owned parking lot next to the historic Fifth Avenue Station building for new restaurant space and streetscape improvements.
Does the People Over Parking Act mean new housing is coming soon? It removes one specific legal barrier, the requirement to build a minimum number of parking spaces within a half mile of a transit station. It does not fund a master plan, and the city's 2026 budget decision confirms that a formal study of the 5th Avenue site itself is not currently underway.
Should this change how I think about buying near downtown Naperville today? It's a reason to value what already exists rather than wait on what might come. The land most likely to add competing inventory close to downtown has a multi-year history of stalling at exactly the point where it seemed closest to moving forward.
If you're weighing a purchase near downtown Naperville, or trying to read what a specific parcel's history means for long-term value, Jill Clark can walk through what's actually documented in the public record before you make an offer. Request a private consultation to talk through the neighborhood and the numbers together.
