Trucking firm submits plans for 55-acre HQ in Schaumburg
An Alsip-based trucking firm has submitted formal plans for its proposed new headquarters on 55 acres in Schaumburg, but the earliest public hearings on the plan that's raised opposition from neighbors may not occur until early 2022.
The intervening months will be spent on village staff's review of the large-scale project, which is simultaneously seeking approval of its wetland mitigation plan by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
The proposal from Experior Transport has stirred opposition from nearby residents of Roselle and unincorporated Schaumburg Township who've raised concerns about noise, pollution and traffic from the proposed trucking facility. The 55-acre site, which Experior would buy from the village of Schaumburg, sits at the southwest corner of Irving Park and Rodenburg roads.
Schaumburg trustees have anticipated the project by creating a new zoning classification that would allow it. The village also established a tax-increment financing district intended to generate the up to $20 million for wetland mitigation beyond what Experior Transport had expected to develop the land.
TIF districts work by freezing the amount of property taxes that go to local governments at the level of the first year, with added taxes from the developed land going to a municipally held fund to pay for public improvements. They expire in 23 years, or sooner if all improvements have been paid off, and taxes then are distributed normally again.
Though the possibility of the TIF district reaching its goal in only 10 or 12 years has been discussed, there's no mention or promise of that in its legal documentation.
Last week's submittal of plans begins the standard review of the proposal from a land-use perspective, Schaumburg Economic Development Director Matt Frank said.
Experior entered a contract in 2018 to buy the land from Schaumburg for $5 million. Last year, the company increased the offer to $7 million if the village helped make the development more cost-effective.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initially claimed federal jurisdiction over the project, and was among the agencies citing the higher cost of wetland mitigation required. The Army Corps has since deferred lead authority to MWRD, but the cost estimate hasn't changed.