Redevelopment of the downtown area bordered by Lake, Marion, North Boulevard and Harlem would create more than $17 million in property tax revenue over 14 years, double the revenue the area would generate without redevelopment, a consultant told the downtown “superblock” committee last Tuesday night.
Lisa Lyon, a financial advisor with Roseville, Minn.-based Ehlers & Associates, told the committee that without redevelopment the area would generate $8.7 million, not enough to repay costs of building a 500- to 600-car garage as the committee has planned. The dollar figures are not adjusted for inflation.
The superblock area resides in the village’s Downtown TIF District. Tax Increment Finance Districts draw a line on property tax receipts created by properties within the district when the TIF is created, freeing any additional property tax revenue?#34;referred to as increment?#34;to fund infrastructure improvements, developer incentives, or other specific costs.
Lyon said roughly 60 percent?#34;about $10 million?#34;of the projected revenue could be obtained near the beginning of the three-phase plan through bond sales, which would be repaid with increment created by more valuable buildings paying higher tax bills.
Lyon will tweak her calculations based on a final draft of the committee’s recommended redevelopment plan which it finalized last week at what was likely its final meeting. The ad hoc committee, comprising mostly chairpeople of village commissions, was charged with recommending a plan on the “superblock” to the village board, including how to proceed with a purchase agreement on the Colt Building.
When she presents her final report to the village board, it will contain information on how close the plan comes to the target ratio of 1-to-7 public-to-private funds identified in the Greater Downtown Master Plan. Trustee Ray Johnson, an ex-officio member of the committee, asked for the information.
The committee finished its discussions on what to recommend to the Oak Park village board at Oct. 20 and Oct. 27 sessions, much of which will not depart greatly from its major decisions arrived at the previous week: to sacrifice the Colt Building in favor of saving other historic buildings, creating a new north-south street connecting Lake Street and North Boulevard, and opening Marion Street to vehicular traffic.
Its presentation will come in three forms?#34;a map roughly showing which properties would preferably be kept and which are up for redevelopment, a memorandum providing context for the committee’s decisions and highlighting the complexity of certain issues, and in-person feedback at the meetings.
The village board Monday night set the beginning times of the meetings at 6:30 p.m. to allow for more time. The board will invite community members who made presentations to the committee to make shortened versions to the board tomorrow night.
“We have to remember the public has a right to as much input at these meetings as they desire,” Trustee Robert Milstein said. “We can’t short-shrift them.”
The board is expected to hear a minority opinion from Ilhan Avcioglu, a committee member and chair of the Environmental and Energy Advisory Commission, who originally agreed with the consensus recommendation before later changing his mind.
During committee deliberations, Avcioglu said he opposed building a new street at the expense of historic buildings, and proposed sustainable practices be included in the plan.
Trustees will also meet Saturday to tour buildings on Westgate, some of which have been slated for demolition under the committee’s recommendation.
The board also expects to view three-dimensional models for some of the proposed plans. Focus/Taxman, which owns the Colt Building and proposed a sweeping redevelopment plan calling for numerous new buildings, has the models for its two-optioned plan.
Representatives from the development company have told Wednesday Journal that they expect a final understanding about their role in downtown development by the end of the month.
CONTACT: dcarter@wjinc.com
The Oak Park Architectural League will host a meeting to discuss alternatives to demolishing the Colt Building as part of a downtown superblock redevelopment plan.
Creating a new street running south from Lake Street to North Boulevard will improve circulation and create four new corners of retail, according to the superblock committee’s consensus opinion.
But OPAL feels the street would “break the strong continuity of the facades along Lake Street and create a pedestrian danger,” Frank Heitzman, OPAL head, said in an e-mail.
“This same street that was rejected by the village in 1996 is being proposed again nine years later,” Heitzman writes in part.
The missive suggests, “Immediate action should be contemplated.”
The meeting will be at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 25, at Pleasant Home, at the corner of Pleasant Street and Home Avenue.
